marathon

Running Naked

| cheriarmour

I’m engaged! Wooo!  (My mom already asked me if we’ve set a date and we’ve been engaged for literally 8 minutes).

Onto the stuff! Aside from your sports bra, I feel like your GPS watch can be one of the most important tools you have.  It tracks pace, distance, and all that good stuff that become paramount during marathon training.  I actually cried when I got mine as a gift last birthday because I was so overjoyed to, one, be in possession of such a tool, and 2, have gotten it for free (that ish’s spensive, y’all!)

So I think I told you guys, the wristband on my Garmin 610 had fouled up back before I ran the marathon in March, and Garmin sent me a little replacement kit, no problem, just in time for my marathon.  So imagine my surprise when I looked down at my wrist before Zumba last week, and the wristband was starting to pull away from the watch again?!  I called Garmin, sat on hold for 10 years, and explained to them what was going on.  I love the watch, but this just won’t work.

Garmin 610

“Maybe you have a thin wrist.”

Dude. I love my Garmin, but the techies over there should have figured out by now that runners, a lot of us, are thin-wristed little birdies.  But, all of that aside, they agreed to send me a refurbed watch sometime soon.  So over the next week or so, I’ll be “running naked,” training by mapping out my distances ahead of time, and running without any true indication of pace.  That’s okay, I think it’s dangerous to get totally locked in to staring at your watch, but I miss it dearly.  I’ll be on the lookout for the mailman every day til that watch shows up!

Week 1 of Marathon Training.

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So, I started training for the Greensboro Marathon this week.  I’m about 17 weeks out, so the mileage is totally manageable, but the “training” has been fraught with tragedy.

Got it, Kim.

But I caught some sort of stomach bug and have been queasy since last weekend, a little dehydrated, and it’s made these short, humid, hilly little runs a little challenging.  I’ve done them.  But it’s been hard.  So that little bit of doubt starts to creep in.  If I can’t even get through 5 miles without vomiting, how will I do 26.2?!

Chill, Cherisse.  You’ve done one of these before.  You have the stomach flu.  And you’ll be better when you replace your fluids and electrolytes.

Let the marathon madness begin!

My week in pitchurs (that’s how it sounds when people down here say it!)

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This week, my first week back at home in Raleigh, has been a whirlwind of working, teaching Zumba classes, adding new songs to my lineup, job things, and trying to reset my life here in Raleigh. Honestly, it was hard to leave my mom last Saturday morning, and I wish I didn’t have to. But she’s improving, and I can’t hang around my parents’ house forever, right?  So my week in a few pitchurs.

Marathon 1

The Greensboro Marathon.  Oh guess who’s doing their second marathon in October?  If you guessed Sydney Poitier, you guessed wrong.  ME!  I am doing the Greensboro Marathon October 26th, after I searched both high and low for a race I could do (within financial reason) this fall!  The race starts in Elon (which obviously, I’m obsessed with because I went there, duh,), and ends in downtown Greensboro.  I’m hoping for a little bit prettier weather than the marathon I did last spring, and I’m better prepped for how boring life will get around mile 17.  I can do this!  Hang in there for marathon posts, I’m sure there will be a TON.

Marathon 3Zucchini Fire.  It’s zucchini season in good ol’ NC, and I’ve come into possession of several humongous zucchini weanies. I had to find a way to cook them. And what other way than grating them into some zucchini bread? Well, me being the domestic goddess that I am, I overfilled my bread pans, and they leaked into the oven, where they started a fire in my kitchen. Not kidding. I was literally using my lungs to put it out in a desperate effort to save my bread. The bread was saved, and I only had to spend like 89 hours scrubbing the oven out with a piece of steel wool. #Winning.

Marathon 2

Headstand victory.  My yoga teacher, the young little Emily Wallace down at Indigo Hot Yoga, let us play around with a few headstands today, and instructed us, step-by-step, on how to get up into one.  I got up, and was able to stay up for a few seconds.  Do I need more work? Yes.  Do I need to get a little more consistent in my practice to continue to see progress, and to continue being a Bendy Wendy, even when I train for this marathon?  Absolutely.  But it felt good, and it took my mind off of serious stuff to be able to work out my core and stay up in a headstand for a while.

Can we say “whew”?  What a friggin week!

Runners for Boston

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Runners for Boston

So runners are an amazing breed. Most of us, anyways. We love to eat. We love dogs. We look good in a bikini. Even the boys. And we don’t tolerate being threatened especially well. Check out this sweet top we printed to benefit the victims of the bombing! I was so proud to wear it and more than happy to answer any questions folks had about it. Love it?

I woke up Monday morning…

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…excited, like it was Christmas!  I mean, it was Boston Day!  The best day of the year for so many! And one of our teammates was running, and was nervous to finish.  (He finished with flying colors, btws, and we never doubted he could do it for a second).  And by the end of the day yesterday, we were devastated.  I don’t need to repeat what happened at the finish line at Boston about 4 hours into the race on Monday, I’m sure you’ve heard.  But I feel like we all need to pause, and take stock in what we have.  I want to take a second, be absolutely corny, and say this.

I am grateful for those of you who’ve read and commented on this blog.  Your support keeps me going.

I am grateful for my job and my work friends.  We squabble like a little family, but we love each other.  You make going to work a pleasure.

I am grateful for running.  It’s changed a lot for me.

I am grateful for my family.  I am more grateful since my Mom’s been sick.

I am grateful that Kerry Seal, our teammate, is coming back from Boston safe and sound.

I’m grateful for Zumba, Yoga, and however it is I choose to move.  It keeps me calm.

I could go on for days.  But you’d probably get sick of it.

Race Shirt

So here’s my race shirt, showing my Boston folks a little support.

And I leave you with this – a Russian children’s folk song that’s gotten me through a few rough days.

May there always be sunshine,

May there always be blue skies,

May there always me Mama,

May there always be me.

Race Review! Run Raleigh Half Marathon!

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I think by now, I’ve figured out, that though I work okay without the pressure of a race coming up, I do a little better when I have a race breathing down my neck.

I hadn’t planned to run the Run Raleigh Half Marathon, but a friend of mine decided she couldn’t run it, and generously allowed for me to take her place.  And it’s a good thing, I still have the Nike Women’s Half in two weeks, and it kept me on track with a long run this weekend.  And gosh, I needed that long run.

Time

I have stress dreams. So I dreamt all night that I’d overslept the race. But, my mom’s been sick, and I dreamt that she, on the way to the race, took my hand, and jogged with me to the start line. (One day Mommy, you’re totally gonna do it!)

I ate the breakfast of champs, Nutella on toast with a Gatorade Primer, Rock Taped my hips, and watched Sean T’s hip-hop abs infomercial for a while. (I love for a good infomercial).

Bafroom

I put on my compression pro-tight (rocked my world), and my Brooks mesh tank (doubly rocked my world), and set off for the start line, which was about a mile from my house.

Back

I mean, on the real, how cute is the back of that top?

Okay, onto the race review.  

Run Raleigh Half Marathon 2013:

I give the race an A- overall.  Lemme break it down.

  • Packet pickup was seamless.  Packet pickup was at Capital Run/Walk, a local running store.  I’m more of a Fleet Feet Raleigh girl 😉 but I’d be lying if I said the store wasn’t beautiful, and the volunteers weren’t friendly as could be.   
  • The race was extremely well organized.  I walked to the site, and was easily able to find the start, find the pacers, find out where I was supposed to be, and all that good stuff.  For folks that are down with  Port-a-Potty, there were like a million lined up to start.  Heads up: if you’re driving to the race?   You share those parking lots with a Starbucks, a Rite-Aid, and a Harris Teeter.  What I’m saying is, these businesses don’t love it when you park in their lots, but you’re not shopping.  If you’re driving, park respectfully, or have someone drop you off at the start line.
  • The race started on time.  You don’t know how important that is.
  • The volunteers.  They were the rock stars of the entire operation.  The volunteers were well-trained, friendly, smiling, and handled the water stops with ease.  They were wonderful.  If any of the volunteers are reading this?  Seriously, thank you.  You guys rocked.
  • The course.  Okay, here’s where the minus part comes in.  The course was pretty.  We had home-court advantage, so the hills weren’t a surprise.  We used Greenway (which was so cool!), and the miles just flew by.  Here’s the minus.  There is the rudest hill at 12.1 miles that will have you praying for salvation.  I ran with the 2 hour  pacer, and nearly lost him at that hill.  And my glutes are talking today, they didn’t like that hill, either.

Overall? If you’re looking for a pretty spring race to do? Do this one? Beware of that hill at 12 miles, but other than that, you’re in for a really really enjoyable 13.1 mile ride!  On a more personal note, I’m proud of how consistently I was able to maintain a 2-hour pace, despite a pretty hilly course.  I certainly need to work a little harder, I’d like to hit below 2:00 now, but I’m proud of my work yesterday.

I got a visitor at work today…

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First off.  This kinda lifestyle/health/fitnessy blog thing is evolving into something so cool for me.  I’ve always tooled around with the idea of doing something like this, and now that I’ve been doing it, and have kept up with it rather well for a few months, I feel sort of legit.  Like I’m really doing this, huh?  I also am loving some of the feedback some of you guys are giving me.  Kind of the same way that Tinkerbell lives off of applause, I get life from the feedback yous have been giving me.  I love it.

Okay, so I was at work today, and guess who walked in?  None other than our ultra-marathoner friend, Sean Flannery!

Sean slowly padded into the running shop with his signature smile.  You could tell he was still in some pain.  I burst into a huge smile.

“Hiiii!!”

He reached out to give me a huge hug.  I stepped back to look at his face.  He was triumphant, quite obviously, but so, so, so very tired, and despite his huge grin, his eyes still betrayed the fact that he could use a few more good days of sleep.

“I just wanted to thank you so much.  And anything, anything you need?  I want to help you out with it.”

Flash back to the ultra from a few nights ago?  When I met up with Sean at the turnaround, he was hobbling, and continued to apologize for how slow we were moving.  A blister had developed on one of his feet (which we later got taped from the awesome folks at the aid station), and was slowing him down.  He showed me what it looked like today.  Suffice it to say that I’m sparing you a world of heartache by not showing you picture evidence of that poor toe.  He’s not going to keep that toenail.

Back to the visit.  So Sean came into my job to thank me for pacing him.  Came into my job.  This guy just ran 100 miles, and is coming in to thank me?  He’s like a rock star!

“Also, I’m really sorry we had to move so slow.  I wish you’d been there at the end.  I actually was able to run some more.” the whole time, he’s still flashing that grin.  And apologizing for moving slowly?  We chatted for a little while longer, and as he was leaving, I reached out to shake his hand.  He pulled me into a hug.

Sean came into my job to thank me for pacing him.  But I really think he failed to realize that more than anything, I feel like I owe him a huge thanks.  My post from the other day?  Doesn’t do my experience at the Ultra justice.  I am blown away by the fact that human beings can train for something like this, spend over 24 hours in a park running, and still are kind, humble, sweet, and thankful.  And I think being around all of that makes me want to be a little more thankful and humble in my own life.

The most profound moment of the race, the one that nearly brought me to tears, the one that made me want to be just a tad more grateful in my daily life, came toward the end of our lap.  Sean was starting to run out of juice, and we passed an aid station.  I grabbed his water bottle from him, and he continued to trudge on.  I filled it, and found a Vanilla Bean Gu, the flavor he’d told me was his favorite.  I caught up with him, ripped the tab off the Gu, and handed it to him.  After he choked it down?  He trudged a few more steps, and said a simple, “Thank you so much.  Seriously.”  In that moment, if he’d snapped at me and bit my head off, I would have totally understood, but he went the extra step to say thanks.

I guess, what I trying to say, is that, all you crazy marathoners were thanking us volunteers and stuff, but I’m really more thankful to you all for turning a couple of chilly hours on a Sunday morning into this like, profound series of human moments.  For a few hours it was just us, the stars, and some seriously good vibrations carrying us through.  I’m totally striving to keep up these good moments and these good feelings going for as long as I can.  I don’t want to forget how good Sunday morning felt.

100 POSTS! ERMAGAHD!

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I officially had to let go of the Taurus yesterday, btws.

I actually whimpered as the tow truck driver, an actually ridiculously nice man, of Ochoa towing, pulled out from behind the transmission building with my poor car on the back.  I had to go in and retrieve my Barry Manilow tickets from the glove box.  And then I said good bye to the car that took me through high school and beyond.  RIP Taurus.  You served us so exceptionally well.

Taurus

Okay, so to commemorate 100 posts, I have to make public the ridiculous thing that’s been floating around in my head for three years. Almost three years ago, during my first stint working as a Zumba instructor at camp in PA (more on that in the future, but camp is amazing), I was enthralled by Lindsay Birchfield’s blue jacket.  I didn’t know anything about running, about races, about what I was capable of.  The blue jacket was actually a jacket from the Boston Marathon, and I decided then and there, that I would run that race so I could wear that jacket.

My first marathon was slow.  But now that I have my first taste, I want to work a little, no, a lot, harder and qualify for that race.  So what I have to shave over an hour off my marathon time (eek!).  Stranger things have happened right?  So today, I’ll say this.  I’ve done one marathon.  I’m planning one more in the fall, I’ll train a little harder, and get a baseline for where I am.  Once I do that?  We need to get this Boston ball rolling!  Who’s in?

Q: How do I make a water stop without spilling the water all over myself?

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This question was actually texted to me by a good friend, Taylor Doe.  I friggin love technology

Taylor is a schoolteacher from Colorado.  We met during an audition for our college a cappella audition (yes, I sang a cappella, and I’m damn proud of it), and we became fast friends.  Taylor just completed her first half marathon, the Disney Princess Half, in February, and though she’s a devout worshiper of the Church of the Boston Red Sox, we’ve been able to put our differences aside and continue in harmony.

Taylor Doe
Taylor Doe

So onto the question!

I’d be lying to you if I told you I’ve completely mastered the art of the water stop. (For those of you new to racing, the water stop is a table, usually staffed by race or community volunteers, who hold out dixie cups of water, and sometimes Gatorade, for runners of a race. The more miles? The more stops!) A few factors make the water stop difficult. One, you never are quite sure what side of the road the stop is going to be on. Once you figure it out, there isn’t a blinker tattooed on your butt, telling the runners behind you you’re switching lanes, so it can be kind of a cluster moving over without tripping up someone behind you.  Two, once you get there, a little girl is handing you this cup of water that you’re supposed to drink while jogging?  And then you try to politely litter while a disgruntled Boy Scout glares at you from behind his ice scraper that’s doubling as a dixie wax cup scraper by tossing it gently onto the nearest sidewalk.  It’s tricky!

So here’s what I figured out.  When you’re racing and you’re trying to get water at a water stop:

Try and look ahead to see where the stop is.  The further out you have it figured out, the smarter you can be about getting over to the table.  Then, reach your hand out and firmly grab the water.  That sounds ridiculous, but you totally have to commit.  If you don’t you may end up spilling a cup of water all over a little girl in 50-degree beach-windy weather.  Like I did. 😦 If the cup is too full for you to take a shot, dump a little out on the ground, slightly crumple the cup, and toss it back like a shot.  Commit to it, or you’ll choke.  If you need more?  Grab another cup, and do the same.  But there is nothing more miserable than trying to toss back a cup of too-full water or Gatorade.

My last bit of advice?  Turn your shocks on while you’re cruising the water stop.  What I mean?  This isn’t the time to start galloping about like a great big horse.  Smooth your jog down, and commit to that cup!