Race Ready

The nerves have set in. 

We are less than 48 hours away from starting. 

Oh. My. Word!!!

I feel like it was ages ago that I submitted my application for the lottery. And was then accepted. 

(Jorden's nickname in his phone is hot momma for me so that's what shows up in my email! I can't figure out why!)

I deliberated for several days if I was going to do it. I was barely two weeks post pardum when I was accepted so I think I was slightly delirious when I decided to register. 

I didn't really get to start training until I was 7 weeks post pardum. And even then my runs weren't long or fast. But I got out there and did them as best as I could. 

And now here I am, bag packed and ready to go. My IT band is injected and taped. My back, hips and legs are adjusted. I got my pre race massage. And my nails are race ready. 

(Side note - I tried jam berry once before and hated them. Was convinced to try them again and again, I was not impressed. It took me longer to do my fingernails than it would have to have painted them and drawn the designs on myself! They are cute, but ugh, they don't cover my whole nail, there are bubbles etc. I'll save my money for a manicure next time)

I went to bed early. I was jittery laying down so I popped some oils in my diffuser and laid down. 

I slept so well until 2 am when some alarm started going off on Jordens phone and he couldn't figure it out. So that woke me up enough that I had to go to the bathroom. So I went to the bathroom. Laid back down and decided I should pump. Pumped. Laid back down and couldn't get comfy. And then i felt like my throat was getting sore. And since my kids and husband have been sick for two weeks I decided I wasn't going to risk it. 

So here I am, an hour away from my alarm going off drinking theives and lemon tea while watching the office. 

I'm so excited to head to Chicago and get this show on the road!! I can't believe that it's really time to go!!! 

Watch out Chicago! I'm running you whether you like it or not!!! 🏃🏼🏃🏼🏃🏼

The Sickies

My taper has taken a hit. My whole family got sick, me included. So today was my first run in a week!! 

But!!! 

I ran 3 miles in 28 minutes! 

So I felt good! 

I'm heading into a 4 day stretch at work, which then gets me off until the Tuesday after the marathon!! 

I'm getting nervous!!! 

Taper Week

This week was taper week. I saw Dr Trigger on Monday after my 20 mile run. My IT band felt like it was going to explode by my knee. So he injected it and taped it and within an hour I was pain free! It was amazing! 

I took it easy this week. 

Walked with my kids, swam, and today I did a slowwww 5 mile run. I did .5 mile run/walk intervals. 

I felt good after even though it was slow. Closing in quickly on Chicago!!

TWENTY!!!

Today was my longest scheduled run before Chicago!  I'm not going to lie. I was nervous about heading out because I've been having IT band pain and I knew I would be running on some of those small rolling hills which sets off my SPD pain. 

So I set off as soon as the girls had sat down for breakfast and headed to my parents house. 

I walked up the hills to help combat the SPD pain which really threw off my average pace, but again, I'm not willing to really injure myself with Chicago being just a few weeks out! 

For the first time in my life I had to jump off the road and head into the woods...to poop!!!! Omg! I was so embarrassed!  I was SURE someone was going to be out on a Sunday morning walk and see me or something! Which is silly since I was in the boonies! 

I felt good as I was running. I had minim IT band pain but my SPD was painful. So I walked up every effing hill, and even though Michigan is flat, there are a lot of little hills!!! 

With just 4 miles left the girls and Jorden drove by me. I dumped my hydration pack with them and ran the last 4 miles with no extras which was freeing! 

I ran into my parents driveway SO stinking proud because I did it!! 

It felt so good! It took me longer than I really wanted it to, but I can't complain! 

I feel ready for Chicago. I feel like I have my hydration and nutrition down, I know what shorts and socks I'll be wearing. Now to just decide if I'm wearing my hydration belt, pack or flip belt. When I finished I felt like I could have kept going. I need to eat a bit bigger bowl of oatmeal before I head out because at mile 16 I was starving! 

Now it's time to taper!!!! 

Wedding Weekend

This weekend my friend Dani got married to the love of her life. I was so so so honored she had asked me to stand with her on her special day! 

My wedding day morning started out with my lime green socks in honor of Dani's favorite color and a quick 4 mile run. 

I had been a bit Leary to run again this week because of the pain I was experiencing after my run on Sunday. But at mile 4 when I stepped off the treadmill I was pain free! It was such a relief! And best of all?! No dirty mean thoughts making me question why the heck I'm doing a marathon!! Woo hoo!!

The wedding went off without a hitch! We had a wonderful time and I danced my heart out! But by the end of the night, dancing in flip flops, my left leg was hurting. 

Ugh. 

Thankfully I have an appointment to see Dr Trigger on Monday to see if he can help me with my IT band issues! I have a massage scheduled for in the morning too so hopefully that will help with the pain!

Stupid IT band!!

Sucky run

When you're scheduled to run 18 miles and you're a slow runner like me, you have to really schedule your time well. I was supposed to be at a 5k for support for myTeamTriumph in the morning so I decided after the 5k I would just do loops there to log my 18 miles. 

Only trouble was, the big girls were supplied to be at class so Jorden was taking them and I would be taking Mabrey with me. Which meant I had to run with her until they were done and Jorden could pick her up so I could finish out my run. 

So Mabrey and I ran 6 miles together. Then after Jorden left with her I continued on. But by mile 10 my left hip was popping and I was in so much pain. I pushed through but at 12 miles I felt like I was going to damage myself so I called it quits. 

I was so frustrated for quitting before I was truly done, but when I got home and went to climb out of the car I knew I made the right decision because my pubic symphysis was on FIRE and my left hip barely supported my weight. 

I wanted to cry. 

I immediately started questioning why I was trying to run a marathon!! Which, we all know that once you start questioning yourself it's hard to recover from that. So I came in, iced, stretched, rolled, and then climbed into bed. 

By the time I woke up for work I was feeling much better about life and about my run.

And heck yes!! I'm running a freaking marathon!!! 

Winner!!

It's not very often that I win something, but I love winning stuff! I mean really, who doesn't?!

Yesterday I was part way into my run when my friend texted me and told me that I had won a contest on the Iron Cowboy's facebook page!!

He had posted this picture and asked people to caption it

My caption : I'll pee over here, you pee over there! was one of the two winners! I guess I'm getting a tshirt out of it! So that's cool, because honestly I just saw the caption game and didn't pay attention to the fact that it was a giveaway!

I got the notification that I won about .2 miles into my run. It was supposed to be a 5 mile run so I had started out at a comfortable 10 minute pace because I really didn't feel like running and I didn't feel like pushing myself.  But once I knew I won that, and I know how awesome Iron Cowboy is I decided to push myself! So I cranked my speed up on the treadmill and took off! At 2.5 in I had to stop for a milk break, but then got back on and finished it out, a bit slower, but still feeling it! 

I'm happy any time my average pace is under 10 minutes. I know I'm not fast by many standards, but I'm happy with where I'm at right now. And, I'm improving every month and that's all I can really ask for! 

Next run is 18 miles....