January 18, 2008

My First Marathon

Mom’s wisdom:
Kristine, have you ever had a cut in your hand? While you’re cooking?
Umm. Sure.
Your hand already hurts when you’re holding the knife. Then it hurts even more when you cut an onion or a tomato?
Okay.
But what do you do? Do you stop cooking because your hand hurts?
No.
No, you don’t stop. You keep cooking even if your hand hurts because you have to finish your dish. That’s what you’re going to do today. You’re going to finish your dish.


I had gotten past the panic of the last few days. I was slowly adjusting into fight or flight mode. Luckily, the myriad logistics were keeping me from thinking of the big picture. Did you know that there is a lot to remember before a race? Time chips, shoe tags, singlets, bodyglide (that’s for chafing), sunscreen, race numbers, safety pins, energy gels, socks, bras, laces, contacts, hair up, hair down… You can get really bogged down in the micromanagement of your race. Thank goddess for me.

We reached the start of the race, a local high school in downtown Phoenix. Port-o-potty queues were already beginning to form, a low nervous din of chatting and dozens of people walking around in coats made of garbage bags. I felt kind of lonely. The comfort zone of my boyfriend, my mother and close friends were gone. I looked around. These people were going to be with me for the next 6 hours. I sure hope they’re nice.

After forcing one visit to the p-o-p’s, I made the executive decision not to get back in line. They were already heinous. I went back to my little team grouped together under a tree. Ramon, my coach, woke me from my reverie.

I think you need to get slapped. You have a permanent smile on your face. You look panicked.
That’s because I am.


He turned his attention to the rest of the group and hollered in his Spanish accent,

Das it peepull. You got ten minutes to get dresse for your race clothes. No more freaking out. Theese is eet.

Fight or flight.

Suddenly all was in motion and everyone knew where to go but me. I looked like a lost puppy asking people where, what, how. I reached the corrals and it seemed like everyone made sure to have a running partner. The announcer made note of the professional runners who were present (oh good, some competition) and then someone sang a lovely rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. I got choked up. I was really going to do this. All by myself. I took a deep breath, wiped away my tears, and heard the explosion of the gun. It started.

I expected about 20 minutes to get to the start line, but I crossed in five minutes. I hadn’t miraculously increased my speed. The half marathoners, comprising the majority of the race, were sectioned away from us.

I looked up at the sky, just like the Team In Training information video told me, and forced myself to believe that I was lucky to be doing this race. I remembered what my mother said about finishing my dish. I forced a memory of Dave. God, would he even care if I did a marathon? He’d probably think that eating a giant bag of M&M’s would suffice.

The morning was extraordinary. The sky was ocean blue and absent of any clouds. About a mile or so into the race I saw a sign that said, “Marie Antoinette Cakes - cakes you’ll lose your head over.” I smiled to myself.

I ran on for a bit and turned around to see three girls from my team. Only one looked familiar. She asked me how I was doing and we all began to chat. I never expected to run the next 17 miles with them. They were the best running partners I could ask for. They were relaxed, funny, friendly, and slow! Just like me! During my whole training season, I always fell to the back of the pack. This was the first time I found a running clique that was just as unhurried as I was! How lucky to find them on race day.

At mile 3 I found my petite mother jumping up and down for me. I hammed it up for a picture.

Seven tenths of a mile later Jay, Veronica and Tria were screaming my name. Racing can certainly make you feel like a celebrity. Jay was wonderful enough to rent a bike so he could survey my entire race.

How’s it going?
I found friends.
Good.


Life was grand and the next few miles flew by. I came to the realization that I was actually doing a marathon and I was proud of myself. I looked forward to each aid station. Not just because we would get peach flavored sports drink, but a team of 12-year-old-costumed cheerleaders were at each station ready to give us the perfect cheer. Each station had a different costume and I started looking forward to seeing the next surprise. There were pirates, superheroes, Rue Paul’s, Kiss – I loved them all and loved the reprieve even more.

Around mile 10 I felt a tingle in my right foot. What is that? My Achilles? Why would that start hurting now? I ignored it. An important element of training is to learn how to ignore pain signals. (loco right?) By now I was comfortable discerning pain from exhaustion and pain that comes from an injury. I could only hope that I was just getting tired. I was sick most of last week and my energy level was still not one hundred percent. If it was only exhaustion endorphins and adrenaline would save me.

A few miles later the tendon, whose injury I tried to heal by not running 3 weeks before race, was now noticeably painful. Coupled with the Achilles pain I was trying to ignore, I conceded that this race was about to get a lot tougher.

I tried stopping to stretch but I was afraid of losing my running partners. They were now a very important life line to keep me going. Each time they took a potty break I took it as an opportunity to stretch. But in the end it wasn’t going to be enough for me. I wanted to walk. One of the girls decided that we should start playing the alphabet game. Genius! We went through bands. I was awful. Then we went through movies. I got better.

At the half marathon point (13.1), Jay rode up next to me. I told him that I was in a lot of pain. I started to panic. His being there was fast becoming an outlet. I told him to go and I caught up with the girls.

Around mile 19 the girls were picking up their pace and my pain was only increasing. I had to let them go. I slowed my pace and stopped to stretch seeing them get smaller and smaller. I was thankful to be with them for at least the majority of the race. Now being alone and in pain made giving up a viable option. I hoped Jay would ride up next to me and make an inappropriate joke. Then I remembered: I expected to run this race alone. I needed to keep going and to stop this nonsense. I retrieved my ipod and listened to the Rocky theme. I only had 7 miles to go.

But it only took another mile until I saw that familiar face smiling at me. I started to tear.

Jay, just stay with me. I’m really digging deep now. I’m not sure if I can handle this pain.

Yes, you can. He jumped off his bike and with one hand on the handle bars he ran along side me for the final 6.2 miles. I looked at my watch and realized that I wasn’t going to reach my goal of 5 and half hours.

At mile 24 coach Lisa Witler found me.

Like a gift from the heavens! Here comes K-rock!

She told me that in less than a half hour I would be done. I could do that! For goodness sakes, I had been running for almost 6 hours anyway. What’s another 30 minutes? I kept telling myself out loud, I can do this, I can do this. I was grasping for anything to get me through.

I asked coach Witler if I was the last person on the team to finish.

Does it matter?
Yes, it matters. I wanted to beat Katie Holmes. And if I can’t beat Katie Holmes, I wanted to NOT be the last person on the team.
Ok, then there’s like seventeen people behind you.

At the end of mile 25 I heard the cow bell and coach Ramon joined our pack.


I guess I should do every marathon in over 6 hours so I can get escorted by three coaches.

I saw mile 26 and someone said, "You’re almost there!" After hearing that throughout the entire race, I finally let myself believe it.

I turned the corner and saw the finish line. I heard people screaming my name. I saw the clock. I heard the announcer. I saw my mother flashing her camera. Ramon turned to me and said, “Cross that finish line. You’re a marathoner.”

With my hands straight up in the air I thought of Dave and sprinted across the finish line.



As uncomfortable as this experience was I am forced to say that it was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. Being out there and faced with your own determination and resilience gives you so much clarity about the kind of person you are, and who you want to be. If you didn’t think you were the kind of person who had the determination to withstand something so difficult you soon will be, and of course, your friends will always be there to help. I thought I would fall apart the day the doctor told me Dave wasn’t going to make it. But I didn’t. I stayed with him until he left this world and I went on with my life. So when I finished this marathon I thought I would experience something strange and unfamiliar, but it had already been there: an incredible sense of accomplishment and the will to keep going. I hope you had or will experience what I did the day I finished my first marathon. No, it wasn’t the time I wanted. I didn’t get the marathoner body I was hoping for and I didn't get that much faster as a runner, but I guess you have to leave room for a sequel.

Thank you for being with me on this amazing journey.




Mile 20.

You can't tell, but I'm flipping Jay the bird for taking a picture of me while I walked.























Here's my hero, Jay. 5 time iroman, 10 time marathoner, and guy mad at his girlfriend for boasting about him. Thank you for everything.




http://www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/Kristine

January 17, 2008

Fundraising Plea!

Thank you to everyone who has donated generously. Forgive me for my final fundraising plea. I am only $178 from my fundraising goal of $5,000!!! I have until January 28 to keep fundraising!

If you donated and your company has a matching gift program - please take a just a few minutes to fill out the matching gift form and send to me! If you're not sure if your company has a matching program, please click here.

If you know someone who said, "Oh, of course I'll donate. I'll do it later." Now is the time!! It's so easy and it's for a great cause!

Here is the link to donate online and where to send your check and matching form:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/Kristine.

THANK YOU!!!

January 16, 2008

I DID IT!!!

I finished! It was hard, it took a long time and it hurt a lot. But I finished.

I'm so excited to share my experience with all of you! I'm just waiting for my finish pictures. I hope you'll come back to read all about the dramatic play by plays...or just to see me get really angry at mile 20. Thank you again, and I will send an email as soon as the pics are ready. Trust me- the pictures are worth waiting for.

January 8, 2008

1/8/08

Why does it seem like the cats are trying to tell me something?










Nervous doesn't even begin to describe what I'm feeling. I've gotten myself into such a tizzy that I became vulnerable to a cold. Everyone keeps asking me if I'm excited. Should I be? It's more like I want to hurl when I think about having to run for over 5 hours. Make it 6 if I have a lingering cold and sore throat on Sunday.

In the middle of my pacing this weekend - literally pacing back and forth in our little apartment -- Jay said, "Don't forget the reason why you're doing this. You pledged this race to Dave." Well then. Yoda's wisdom certainly brought me back to reality.

I leave Friday morning at the most pleasant time of 6:30 a.m. If that doesn't impress you, how about needing to be at Newark airport by 5 a.m.? Yuck.

Wish me luck...I'm going to need it.
http://www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/Kristine

January 2, 2008

12/29/07

I decided to go for the 20 this Saturday. If you didn't already know, it isn't easy to run 20 miles straight in nyc, so I tried a brand new path starting south first towards Battery Park and working my way north towards the GWB bridge. Early on I saw the statue of liberty in the distance and it immediately lifted my mood. It was a great day - definitely the warmest conditions all month. I was having a great time. It must have showed because an Italian tourist clapped and cheered me on, "Bravo!"


Then...after about 3 miles I started to feel a little nauseous. I wasn't sure what it could have been. I thought maybe it was all the cheese I'd been eating the past few days...pizza, pasta fromage, provolone and soy pepperoni sandwiches... A runner needs her calcium after all... But then I realized like the soy bacon...soy pepperoni wasn't any better. Ugh! No soy before a run!

I tried to ignore the waves of nausea. Then I started to become aware of a pain that I had benignly felt all week. The tendon connecting the top of my ankle to my big toe was getting increasingly sore. I reached 26th Street and thought about turning around. Nausea and tendon pain seemed like sufficient reasons to abandon this run. I watched two women ahead of me touch the plastic neon divider and turn around. Simon says, I guess. So I touched the neon divider like a relay racer and turned around. Of course, I immediately felt remorseful. How could I give up now? I can do the rest of the 14 miles! So...I turned back around taking the second leg of the relay. The pain grew worse like it was trying to punish me. I thought about what Ramon said just a couple of weeks ago while I cried like a toddler. I knew better than this, and I turned around...again. I should've had a potato sack or an egg on a spoon.

As I ran home I began to hear a low whistle of the Rocky theme. Did I die? Was I in Heaven? No, it was just Jay riding up behind me. Mr. Tri Coach was returning from his 60 mile bike ride from Westchester. (I was such a loser...)

I emailed Ramon to let him know of my injury. Apart from telling me to rest and do some simple stretches, he emphasized again that I would be ok, and that a finish line was still in my future.

So I guess that's it. Training is over. All that remains is to have faith in that 4 hour 18 miler. Send Off is tomorrow, the meeting where we receive our plane tickets and the rest of our race weekend itinerary.

Thank you again to everyone who has donated and given me well wishes. My fundraising minimum is fulfilled. It's not quite my dream stretch goal, but I still have a few weeks to put on my sad face and shake my cup. And of course, my training is done... So thank you for helping me get to this point...your encouragement has helped more than you know. I'll be sure to write again before I go to Arizona on the 11th!

December 23, 2007

12/22/07

According to marathon lore, if you can run 18 - 20 miles during training you will be able to finish the marathon.


After almost a month of dwindling confidence, I’m overjoyed to report that I ran 18 miles yesterday!! It was getting pretty hard to believe that I was actually going to get through this training with my body rebelling against my two previous attempts towards 18 miles. And man, could I stop the embarassing waterworks! It was like I had Beaches playing in my head all day. Alright with the crying already! I really thought I had pushed my body to its final limit. The more my confidence dwindled, the more I didn’t want to train on the “non-running” days. I mean what for? Then last Thursday, I forced myself to go to the gym after feeling guilty for skipping practice the night before. I don’t know what it was – maybe it was all the days I took off that made my body fresh, but I had a great run! If you’re a runner, you’ll understand what I mean when I say my running opened up – it’s really just the adrenaline coursing through your veins – my stride lengthened and I felt like a gazelle kicking off. Finally! A running experience that didn’t suck! More importantly, a little inspiration for my upcoming long run.

I decided to forego team practice this Saturday and run along the west side path so my course was flat. The conditions were great. It wasn’t too cold, over ten degrees warmer than last week, and it was a nice cloudy sky. I ran farther on the path than I ever have almost reaching the GWB Bridge.

With the impending holidays, it was nice to have some time alone to my thoughts. (I did have 4 hours after all.) Along the way I had some interesting revelations. Disturbing ones – like how NYC is turning into Miami with its ever growing fleet of condominiums. Or some great ones – like there are still New Yorkers who still smile and say hello when you cross paths. And the mightiest of all revelations – if you beat them to the punch, saying hello to construction workers first will refrain any disgusting comments about your stretchy pants.

I wish you and everyone you love a very happy and healthy holiday.




Deliriously happy from my run. At least I'm not crying...









http://www.active.com/donate/tntnyc/Kristine

December 15, 2007

12/15/07

Painting by Sybil - a real crazy person who had multiple personality disorder, played by Sally Field in the made for TV movie Sybil.


I had a terrible run today. And last week too, which culminated into one of those memorable moments that you never want to remember again. Last weekend I was so exhausted that I barely finished 11 miles. I know that most people have bad training days, so I chalked it up to that and took advantage of the chill pill for the rest of the week. I even got a sarcastic (but not really) reprimand from a coach for my chilaxing at Wednesday’s workout. So I geared up for today’s run. I downloaded $20 bucks worth of new wave hits, I laid out my 3 layers for the wintry conditions, filled the necessary water bottles, packed the not-so-delicious-anymore energy gels and I was ready to rock(y) this training run.

The next morning I woke up early, had my coffee and was off. The second I entered the train station I realized one very important thing. I forgot to put on my outer layer – an important element for this morning’s 27 degrees, not to mention that it held my water/bagel $ and my freshly downloaded ipod full of soft cell and dexy’s midnight runners. So I hemmed and hawed until the train got there. Besides, it’s not such a crazy sight to see someone walking alone cursing to themselves on the train platform.

I finally entered the park and started hoofing my way to 18 miles. Without my outer layer I was really cold and my toes were numb. I was lucky enough to start running w/ a teammate and happily substituted my DJ Rob Base & EZ Rock with a discussion on our dream careers. Mine had to do with the eating, discussing and writing about food. Unfortunately, I started getting some terrible pain in both ankles that I couldn’t ignore any longer and we separated. That’s when the real fun started. A sharp pain started in my hip and my arches began to feel like they were ripping from my bones. And so began about an hour and a half of stop, stretch, walk, run, stop, stretch, walk, run…Again the pain just couldn’t be ignored I was forced to walk. The cold and odor of horse manure didn’t help either. I began to seriously contemplate quitting, but didn’t want last week to happen again. After all, I was about to finish 14 miles. And did I mention that we really only have 1 training run left? (The last two weeks are for taper.) So…how could I possibly get to race day having only accomplished 15 miles? And how about all the donors who I promised to run 26.2 miles for? I would be a fraud!!
The pain and emotional whip lashing became so severe that I made myself cry. So this was my second time today walking around like a crazy person – crying and cursing. Then I came to a crossroads. If I made a left I would reach bag watch and go home, or I could make a right and pain through for another hour. I made a left.

I arrived at bagwatch and before I could say anything Coach Steve remarked on how miserable I looked. When I’m mad I look the same as I did at 5 years old after a tantrum. Before I could start my story I looked at him and started to cry (again). Thankfully, he took me aside away from the others…(the others who completed their run today! rrhhh!) At that exact moment Head Coach Ramon came over. Concerned seeing one of his runners in distress, he talked me down from a ledge and asked me to trust him. He went on to tell me a myriad of expert coaching advice, but most importantly regardless of what happened this morning I could finish this race. Beyond being supremely embarrassed for the waterworks, I was so honored by his advice and understanding of my suffering that I was rendered silent and intently listening.

Feeling humiliated, and humbled by the realization of how truly difficult what I am undertaking actually is, I limped back over to the train. This time much better behaved.


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