Weather Forecasts + Courtney Love = 20 Painful Miles

I decided to do my 20 mile training run today instead of tomorrow as I had originally planned. Why? The weather forecast. That's why.

You see, tomorrow the weather forecast says it is supposed to be cold and rainy all day. Today's forecast predicted overcast and cold with a chance of showers. A chance. It did not say, there will most definitely be showers. It said A CHANCE! Whatever. Eff you weather dot com and local news-caster-weather-man-schmuck with your toupee, capped teeth, and fake happy voice. You know why I say eff you to the weather people? Because, it friggin' rained. It rained a lot. All. 20. Miles.

I went to a local park with a five mile loop for bikers and runners. It is about and hour drive from my home. However, it is worth it because of the nice scenery and the easily mapped distance. The cold rain started about 5 minutes prior to my arrival. I wasn't happy about it. But,I had all of my cold weather and rain gear ready to go along with my drinks, GU, and iPod. Plus, the weather experts said a chance of rain which clearly meant that there were no large precipitation systems covering the area. Right? Uhhhhh....WRONG!!!!

Lap one was a smooth 5 miles. I felt strong. I felt focused. I felt COLD AND WET! However, I fought through the discomfort caused by the conditions with a fair amount of ease. There were not too many others on the course, by the way. Those people were smart. They did not try to run 20 freakin' miles in 38 degrees and rain.

Before lap 2, I shed my gloves and ear warmers. My hat was keeping my hair dry and the gloves were driving me crazy. The rest of the gear felt bulky and uncomfortable. From a running persepctive, lap 2 felt good too. I was cruising, strong, and COLD and WET. But, my pace was good and I felt like I could go forever. Boy, was I wrong.

Lap 3 was the beginning of the end of my mental toughness. I decided to switch from clockwise to counter-clockwise on the 5 mile loop. I thought the different perspective would help keep me going. Like the meterologists in my life, I was WRONG. The change seemed to toy with my mind. I began to feel out of sorts when I saw the oncoming traffic that would have been at my back had I stuck with the clockwise pattern. (This was around mile 13.) Then, the Gatorade and GU chomps started to taste like poison to me. Did I mention that it was cold and rainy too?

After I fought the last 2 miles of lap 3, I stopped at my car to hydrate, shed my hydration belt (it was chaffing on my hips due to the wetness of my shirt from the unexpcted rain), and pull myself together for the final 5 miles. Oh, and I shouted out asking for someone to, "PLEASE HELP ME!!!!" (Not kidding!)

The first 2 miles of the final loop felt ok. But, then came the hill. I walked it due to the pain in my legs. My nose was running, my legs felt like jell-o, I was freezing, and my mouth tasted like citrus GU. Obviously, nobody heard my shout for help. I just wanted to stop. But, I didn't.

Even my music was on my nerves at this point. Some song by the band, Hole, began to play and I just lost it. I started thinking that Courtney Love was surely not running 20 miles in the rain today. In disgust, I turned off my iPod and accidentally dropped it. When I bent over to pick it up, I felt like someone was hitting my lower back with a sledge hammer....and if Courtney Love had been standing in front of me at that very moment, I'm pretty sure I would have punched her in the face and screamed, "Why don't you live through this?!?!?". My gloveless hands and iPod were covered in mud thanks to picking up the dropped iPod. Great. Thanks, Courtney. Now, I had to clean my hands and my iPod and it was all Courtney's fault. Once I dealt with the iPod dropping situation and got over my irrational anger at Courtney Love, I resumed my jog to the quiet, peaceful sounds of the park in the rain. It felt nice again....and suddenly, I was done.

20 miles in the books. My time was 3 hours and 19 minutes. Upon completion, I stopped at Chipoltle and ate a giant burrito. And, it continued to rain. All. Day. Oh, and Courtney, I forgive you.

8 Miles

Until I started this athletic nonsense, when I heard someone say 8 Miles, I assumed they were referring to that ridiculous Eminem movie. You know, the one where he had the "rap off" with his enemy while Brittany Murphy watched with love in her eyes. (I recently came across that movie on Encore and it was as terrible as I remembered it. Just sayin'.)

Today, I ran 8 miles because that is what my Health Magazine Beginners Marathon Training Schedule said I had to do. Compared to last week's 18miles it really felt like a piece of cake. The only issue that I had was an iPod situation where my headphones made loud crackling sounds in my ears during Love the Way Your Lie by Eminem and Rhianna. Weird, right? (See paragraph 1 of this post if you don't see the weirdness in that).

Next week, it's the big 20 mile run. Happy Easter to me. Nothing like chocolate bunnies and the inability to move without terrible joint pain all in one day. I am not sure if I will go to a local park that has a 5 mile loop and complete the 20 miler or if I will attend a group 20 miler on the marathon course sponsored by this cool, local running store called Up N Running.

What would you do? (I think I just asked this question to nobody...since I have no readers.)

Why am I training for these races?

My brother-in-law (my sister's husband), Paul, died at age 41 of a rare blood disease called Amyloidosis. He and my sister, Amy, had just welcomed their second child into the world a few months before Paul was diagnosed with this cruel disease. My sister blogged throughout his illness and continues to blog about her trials and triumphs as a young widow raising two sons. You can read their story here.

While raising her kids and grieving the loss of her husband, my sister decided to honor Paul and fight Amyloidosis by forming a team to participate in the New York City Triathlon. Each member of the team, which is affectionately known as Paul's Posse, was asked to raise money to be given to the Amyloidosis Foundation. In their inauguaral year, Paul's Posse raised over $40,000 to fight this disease.

At the time of my sister's team recruitment, I was still out of shape. I knew that I would never be able to swim, bike, and run the distances required by the NYCTri. So, I volunteered to work with my parents and cousin to host the Paul's Posse Pasta Carb Loading Party the night prior to the event. Furthermore, I volunteered to take care of my nephews while Amy participated in the triathlon.

While watching the inspiring athletes of Paul's Posse and the rest of the NYCTri, something got me. I was so inspiried by the spirit that I saw on the faces of every athlete. So, I committed that weekend to join Paul's Posse and compete in the NYC Tri in 2011. It is August 7. Can't wait.

During my early preparation for the NYCtri, I really began to enjoy running. I have competed in several chartiy races. One day, I received an e-mail from a running club that talked about the opening of registration for the Pittsburgh Marathon. So, I called my sister and we decided to sign up. So, on May 15...she and I will attempt 26.2 miles.

Ok....so there is the background. Now, the real stories will begin to be told on this blog. My long run for this weekend is actually a short-long run (8 miles). Next weekend, though, I have to do 20 miles. Gulp....

When I was Thirty-Something, It was a Very Good Year

Last April, my journey began. I remember it like it was yesterday. After a snowy, cold winter cooped up in our home, the sun began to shine. It was a Thursday evening. I had not seen any of our suburban cul de sac dwellers since the Fall. But last April the sun began to shine and the cul de sac was suddenly full, once again, of of bike-riding, trampoline-jumping, popsicle-eating neighborhood kids accompanied by their stir-crazy parents. My son was so excited to play outside with the neighbor kids and I was excited to chat with their parents.

The kids had all grown taller. There were new sets of braces adorning a couple mouths too. The little boy next door was no longer wearing diapers. Lots of changes and growing had taken place during that cold, ugly winter. After I observed the changes in the kids, the mom next door came walking out of her garage with a big smile. She looked radiant. She had lost a ton of weight and looked confident, happy, and healthy. I complemented her on her much lighter, learner body. Then, I asked her how she did it. She told me that she participated in Weight Watchers at Work and had lost 45 pounds.

That evening after I put my son to bed, I remember eating Doritos and thinking about my neighbor and her amazing weight loss. There were many changes in me that had occurred during our harsh winter too. I wondered if my neighbors noticed them. I figured, they had to notice. After all, I was the heaviest that I had ever been in my life. I was no longer smoking cigarettes like I had done in the previous summer. Smoking cessation weight gain had set in on my already out-of-shape chunky body. Plus, I am a mom to a toddler. After he would eat his meals, I would make sure that his left over mac and cheese and chicken nuggets would not be wasted...so I ate them. I had not exercised in months. I had spent the winter eating french fries and chocolate with a side of carbs and fat. I was not confident. I was not healthy. I was not happy. So, I decided to give my neighbor's plan a try. And this is when the starvation, misery, and pain.....I mean..... lifestyle change began.

I started with Weight Watchers.....those points. Oy vey. At the time, I was certain that the physical symptoms that I experienced from parting with my daily intake of greasy fries, gigantic bagels doused in butter, and foamy Iced Mocha lattes topped with whipped cream were comparible to what I had heard that opiate withdrwals feel like to recovering addicts. My face broke out, I felt sick, I would get sweaty, I was hungry, and I just wanted to eat junk food. But, I slowly started to see results on the scale and looseness in my clothes and my withdrawal symptoms slowly went away like they did for Leif Garrett on Celebrity Rehab. As summer progressed, the pounds continued to slowly leave my body. I started walking with my neighors every single day. I started to regain confidence and to feel healthy and happy again and I got in some quality gossip....I mean..... girl/mommy time during those walks.

So, how the heck did I start training for marathons and triathlons?

The rest of this blog will address that and the insanity and rewards of heavy duty training. I'll never tell the exact number of pounds that I lost. I will post some before and after pics and allow my readers (if I have any) to guess....privately, of course. (If you try to post a guess in the comments I may cut you!!)