This was my second time doing the full course (26.2 miles) and the hubs first full ever. He had done the Honorary or Blue Course (15.2 miles) last year and decided to do the full course with me this year. I thought that it would be like last year with not much sand, but I was in for a rude awakening both mentally and physically.
Saturday, March 22, 2014 - Travel Day
After getting the K9s ready for an overnight without us we left home at about 9am so that we'd arrive at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) at about 1pm for packet pickup. Thisnot like an expo with only a few vendors there (USAA, Team Red, White & Blue, Army, local writers, organizations having to do with the Bataan Death March and merchandise) it's basically just a packet pickup.
We bumped into my friend, Teresa, at packet pickup and chatted for a while before we headed out to Holloman AFB to check into our lodging for the night. After settling in we headed back over to WSMR to attend the pasta feed. Nothing much else occurring on this night other than setting up the gear for the next morning.
Packet pickup swag.
The quiet before the storm...finish line.
My bib honoring Col. Ray O'Day,
Cpl. Willard Howard both survivors of the
Death March,all the Filipino troops and guerillas
and my fellow veterans.
Gear for the race.
Sunday, March 23, 201 - Race Day
We were up and getting ready at 3:00am since we had close to an hour's drive back to WSMR. We checked out and unlike last year when there were no other people leaving the lodging at the same time as us there were probably 2-3 other cars that seemed to be getting ready to head over to WSMR. We arrived at WSMR just before 4:30am and ended up in a fairly decent line of cars as we came to the parking area. I thought we'd end up out in the boonies like last year when I had to walk an extra mile or so on painful feet but luckily just a couple of cars ahead of us the line was diverted in the opposite direction and we ended up parking less than a block from the finish area. Score!
We grabbed our gear and headed to the staging area. The wind was blowing pretty good so we tried to huddle next to one of the buildings where we met another Team Red, White and Blue member. About half an hour before the race we took a group pic with Team RWB before heading out to the Civilian Light division staging area. The opening ceremonies were as emotional as the year before with the names of recently deceased survivors announced as well as the names of the survivors that were attending the festivities. The Wounded Warriors were announces as a group and then it was time to start heading for the starting line. The WW always lead the race followed by Military Heavy division (military members in full gear including a 35+ pound ruck), Military Light division, Civilian Heavy division and finally Civilian Light division. It took more than an hour for us to finally get up to the starting line. (NOTE: Wait until you're actually out on the street making your way to the start to use the portapotties, there's absolutely no line!) I didn't get to shake any of the survivor's hands this year since we were stuck in the middle of the crowd, but those on either side of the crowd were able to. And then we were off!
Hubs and I feeling good pre-race.
I was feeling pretty good at the start while we were on the asphalt, but by the time we hit the marching trail I realized that there was much more sand than there was last year. This made running and passing people a bit difficult. The one good thing with the extra sand is that there wasn't as much dust blowing around as last year. There was a bagpiper playing on the side of the trail (he was also doing the race) around mile 2 or so.
First mile.
On the trail approx mile 2.
We came to the first aid station at mile 3 and I was feeling pretty good still even with all the sand. We grabbed some fluids and fruit and headed on our way. We kept going until we hit the aid station at mile 10, by this time I could feel that I was building a blister on the ball of at least one of my feet. I stopped to take a look at it and put some duct tape on for a little protection. My feet at this point were burning and throbbing but after a short rest and fighting with my shoe to get it back on we continued on our way. It was at this point I started my moaning and groaning saying that I'd hop on the first bus headed back to the finishing area. I never did, but the poor hubs had to listen to me bitch and moan for the next 16+ miles.
First time I've seen one of these on the course.
We finally made it to the half way point. This is a large aid station where they sell burgers, hot dogs, chips and drinks every year. My feet were extremely painful and although I took my shoes off, I didn't pull my socks of the check the damage for fear that it may make me quit. I think I was near tears at this point from the pain. We rested for about 20 minutes and again I had to fight to get my shoes back on. I struggled to my feet and we slowly continued on our way. I gotta say, I'm glad that the old man was with me this year because I would've quit if he wasn't. I was going to finish his first full marathon with him even if I had to crawl. I'll tell you though, I was never in this much pain last year!
Captain America incognito?
As we came around the back side of the mountain, my feet were feeling somewhat numb which made progress a little easier. We made it back to the mile 10/18 aid station and I again had to stop to take off my shoes. Again I seriously considered getting on the buses headed back to the finish but talked myself out of it. Shoes went back on with a fight and we were off again even slower than before.
After crossing the road, we headed into the "Sand Pit." This is the sandbox of the race. I thought the sand early on was bad, this sand was literally 2-3" deep. Last year this area wasn't bad at all and I remember thinking, "What's all the hullabaloo about the "Sand Pit" that everyone keeps talking about?" Well, this year I found out...and I wish I hadn't. Thankfully this year I had gaitors on so I didn't get much sand in my shoes but the going came to a crawl at this point. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally got out of the sand (that's figurative, there was still sand on the rest of the course but not as much as in the "Sand Pit") and reached the mile 22 aid station. Again I stopped and took off my shoes and I must have looked pretty bad because for the second time this race a medic/RN came to check on me and see if I was okay. I told I was fine (I was not) and eased my shoes back on and began the slow last 4.2 miles to the finish. The trail wasn't as sandy as earlier portions of the race but there were a couple of small hill which seemed like they never ended to me. I could see the water towers by base housing and near the finish line and they seemed to get farther away instead of closer.
Eventually we made it to mile marker 26 and took hub's obligatory "my first full marathon" photo there.
The old man's first full marathon, almost complete.
We crossed the finish line together taking a full 40 minutes longer than I took last year...damned feet. But I was feeling good enough (better than last year when my feet were burning and tender from sand in my shoes) to head directly over to the free burgers and hot dogs to have some nourishment before the five hour drive home. We walked to the car and I finally took off my shoes and socks to discover large blisters covering most of the balls of each foot plus a smaller blister to the right foot and heel. Those would eventually take a few weeks to heal even after draining them.
Even with the pain, I was happy with myself for not giving up and continuing on. I can now say that I have completed this race for 2 years and yes, even with the difficulty of this year I'll be back for more torture next year because it's not about me. It's about remembering the men who died/survived the Death March and the women who were interred during this same time. They had no choice, it was march or die for them. For me the pain that I had to endure was nothing compared to theirs.
2014 Dog tag, front.
2014 Dog tag, back.
As close to legs on the wall as I could
get during the drive home.
What did I like about this race? What it stands for, the emotion that goes into the race, the people it strives to remember.
What did I not like about this race? The amount of sand compared to last year.
Would I do this race again? This race is one of my annual races...I will continue doing it for as long as I can.
So, in 2012 I had planned to hit 30 states in a year but my health had other ideas so now I'm just shooting for 50 half marathons in 50 states. Never mind the fact that I started doing full marathons just a few months ago doing just enough to qualify for the Marathon Maniacs (thus making me a Double Agent)...I don't think I'll ever aspire to 50 full marathons in 50 states. I'm a 13.1 chick. So anyway this is what my map is looking like so far...it's a little more fancy than my two little maps in the right side bar...
Can't wait to get started on the East Central/East Coast...that'll likely take me a couple, if not a few, years to complete.
Race Series: Center of the Nation Series Dates: Monday, September 16, 2013 - Friday, September 20, 2013 Locations: Day 1 - Bowman, North Dakota (Half Marathon) Day 2 - Belle Fourche, South Dakota (Full Marathon) Day 3 - Colony, Wyoming (Half Marathon) Day 4 - Albion, Montana (Half Marathon) Day 5 - Chadron, Nebraska (Full Marathon)
Sunday, September 15, 2013 - Travel Day
Today would be the day of the long drive. I ended up taking off from Colorado at 4am to make the the drive to Rapid City, South Dakota to pick up one of my room mates (Denise) at the airport before making the final leg of the trip to Bowman, North Dakota.
This happened to be around the time that the floods in Colorado were happening. I had been watching the Department of Transportation website to see if I-25 would be open for my trip. It had actually been closed off and on for the 2 days prior but luckily they opened it back up the night before I left for Colorado Springs. The drive through the Denver area was a bit alarming because it was still raining, fairly heavy at times. There were areas of standing water on the freeway and I remember I did do some slight hydroplaning while going through there. After I finally made it into Wyoming the weather went to a gloomy, overcast and by the time I had gotten to the eastern side and into South Dakota the skies were clear.
The drive was roughly 9 hours (including gas and food stops) to get to Rapid City. I got to the airport just before Denise's flight disembarked. Now, this was one of those instances where I had never met my room mates before but luckily everyone would fit together well. After I picked up Denise we headed north to Bowman, North Dakota. The drive was about 3 hours and as we went through Rapid City Denise mentioned wanting to stop somewhere to pick up some groceries and such. What we didn't know is that there were no decent sized towns on the route we were taking to Bowman. Not a WalMart or Target in sight once we left the limits of Rapid City.
We arrived in Bowman around 3:30pm and checked into our hotel. At about this time we found out that our room mates, Michelle and Sherry, had had their flight cancelled and were making alternative plans to get to Bowman. They eventually got in an hour into the race the next day! We found out from the clerk that there was only one grocery store open in town and they closed at 5:30, so we headed over there and luckily they had everything that Denise had wanted to get. From the store we decided that we'd head over to packet pickup. We ended up going down this rutted dirt road to get to the golf course where pickup and dinner was being held and later found out that there was a paved road coming from the west. We got our stuff and decided to have dinner while we were there. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel to get our gear ready and turned in early, the sun was still out, so that we'd be rested for the race the next day.
Monday, September 16, 2013 - Race #1 - Bowman, ND
We woke up early to head over to the start which was 30 minutes away. It was cold, dark and the wind was blowing at a decent clip. To break up the wind I put on a plastic trash bag...so fashionable. lol!
Photo courtesy of Denise Mueller, my roomie.
Clint Burelson, race director giving instructions for the first day.
The race was at Bowman-Haley Lake Recreation Area, the course itself was on a worn asphalt road with just the tiniest bit of dirt/gravel trail at the turnaround. This series is timed, but non-competitive. It's just about getting all the states that you need in for something like the 50 states clubs where you do either a marathon or half marathon in each state. Since it was non-competitive (not that I'm a competitive runner) I figured I start out slow then go slower just to keep the wear and tear on my body to a minimum.
Clint, the race director, gave instructions on how this short course out and back would work. We'd go out and back on an approximately 2 mile course, each time we completed a lap we would need to take a rubberband which would be used to count laps: half marathoners had to do 6 laps, full marathoners 12 laps. With that we all lined up and took off at the start. I've never done a short loop course like this and didn't think I'd enjoy it, but in reality it was great. You saw the same people over and over and got to know them. By the time I finished it really didn't feel like I had just completed a half marathon.
The other 2 room mates, plus a third (Marissa) had arrived at the race about and hour or so in. So while they were still running Denise and I headed back to the room to shower and get ready to leave. As soon as the others finished their races they headed over to shower then we all got in the car to travel to Belle Fourche, SD...the geographical center of the United States (including Alaska and Hawai'i).
The drive back to South Dakota took about 2 hours. I did the driving while everyone else napped. The "new" girls had barely slept on their drive from Philadelphia to Bowman, they had driven through the night to make it to the race. We arrived in Belle Fourch in mid afternoon and had just enough time to drop off all our stuff before heading back to Rapid City so the other girls could drop off their rental car. After we dropped off the car we decided to stop at Target then eat at Longhorn Steakhouse since we didn't know what kind of food would be in Belle Fourche. We found out later that the pre-race dinner at the restaurant for our hotel was pretty lame so eating in Rapid City was a good choice. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to get our gear ready and head to bed.
Finishing Time: 3:19:00
Tuesday, September 17, 2013: Race #2 - Belle Fourche, SD
This was the day that I chose to do the first of two full marathons during this series. The start was close enough that we walked to it rather than driving. The course on this day was primarily on a river side concrete (ouch!) path with a short portion on city street. It was once again and out and back course. Clint again gave instructions that ended up much like the ones the previous day: 6 laps for the half marathoners and 12 (gasp!) laps for the marathoners. The start was quite crowded because there were nearly 200 runners on a rather narrow concrete path. After we started the path stayed quite packed until the first lap was nearly complete, at that point things began to thin out.
I started out fairly well with run/walk/run intervals until about mile 15 or 16 at which point I was doing more walking than running. I managed to trudge on and got a boost of energy when Shirtless Sam was doing some cheerleading on the back end of the course. The next time I saw Sam I had three more laps to go and knew that I would be too tired to walk back to the hotel so I asked him for a lift back since he was at the same hotel. I tried to finish up as fast as possible, but fast was not in my vocabulary at that time. By the time I finished my feet were somewhat tender and I hobbled to Sam's car for the short ride to the hotel.
Sam and I.
The roomies and others at the Center of the Nation monument.
The real spot is on farmland outside of town but nobody would
go out there so they made this one in town.
Photo courtesy of Denise Mueller.
My roomies had finished hours prior and had done their bit as cheerleaders. You must note that my room mates were all younger than me by at least 5 years, had these flat bellys and abs...then there was me and my plump self! Anyway, they ran in running skirts and sports bras so they were the talk of the race while doing their cheerleader duties. When I finally got to the hotel they were all showered and using Denise's compression pants and TENS unit. While I was taking an ice bath, yeah I love those, the girls were kind enough to go get me a Blizzard which I counted as my post race protein (I have no idea if that's real ice cream at DQ). After my shower I joined in on the partaking of the compression pants and TENS unit.
For dinner, we ate at the hotel restaurant which was highly disappointing. Thank goodness we wouldn't be in town long enough to have to eat there again! It was then time to get gear ready for the next day and hit the sack.
Finishing Time: 7:19:24
Wednesday, September 18, 2013: Race #3 - Colony, WY
Yet another early morning...Off we went for the 25 minute drive to the next venue. We had heard that finding this particular venue was a little difficult so we just followed the line of cars. Funnily enough we still ended up getting lost and a guy from the mine whose property we were on kindly showed us the way (he actually led us there in his truck). I hadn't read the updated courses on the website and when I found out that this and tomorrow's races were going to be on gravel I was not a happy camper. For one, my ankles can't really deal with uneven surfaces. Secondly, I knew that I'd be getting rocks in my shoes which meant either stopping often to empty them out or suffering through the discomfort. I really wish I had brought my gaiters and trail shoes with me. Luckily the gravel on this road wasn't too bad and as long as I stuck to the packed dirt along the tire tracks I'd do pretty well.
The majority of us were dressed in Boston Marathon colors of blue and yellow because this particular day was designated "Boston Strong Day" as a remembrance of the bombing just a few months prior. Roger Wright was doing some fundraising for the Boston One Fund and was able to raise $700. Roger gave a speech talking about his struggle for health and why he was running races, very inspirational. Clint then made his now familiar speech and then we were off. I tried to stay on the packed gravel as much as possible, and of course there was a hill right at the turnaround...thank goodness I only had to do it six times! This was a slow one because I didn't want to risk injury to my ankles (I have very weak ankles from spraining them so much as a kid) so that I could finish the last 2 races of the week. Eventually I finished and we headed back to the room to change and head out to Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial.
Boston Strong Day Start - video by Roger Wright.
I'm at around 4:38 on the left side walking and wearing
a blue skirt and black shrug (short jacket).
Photo courtesy of Denise Mueller.
At the gate at the Crazy Horse Monument.
Photo courtesy of Denise Mueller.
Room mates +1 at Mt. Rushmore.
Photo courtesy of Denise Mueller.
Mt. Rushmore selfie.
Crazy Horse Monument selfie.
On the way back we stopped in Hill City to eat a Desperados Cowboy Restaurant. This place was great with western furnishings and the owner, Dan, came by and talked to every table. He spent some extra time with us telling us about the restaurant, the parts of the original 1800's building and a ghost story about the place. I had planned on ordering a bison rib eye that we had read about on yelp! but they didn't have any so a couple of us went with the bison pot roast and it was really good.
Bison pot roast.
Somehow on the drive home the GPS on my phone sent us through the dark, windy roads of the Black Hills National Forest instead of through Rapid City. During this drive two deer, one right after another, decided that it would be a good idea to cross the road right in front of us. Luckily I was able to smoothly swerve around them although Denise did let out a girly scream. lol! We finally made it through Deadwood and Spearfish before getting on the right route to Belle Fourche. We made it back to the hotel at around 10pm, just enough time to get our gear ready, pack for the next day because we were heading to Chadron, NE right after the race and jump into bed.
Finishing Time: 3:42
Thursday, September 19, 2014: Race #4 - Albion, MT
Last minute packing going on in our room! We finally got everyone out and the car packed up right around 5am. We were glad to get away from this particular hotel, it was probably the worst experience out of the whole trip. My ankles were hurting just a little bit from the previous day, but not enough to worry about them. My big worry was the fact that the gravel on this course was extremely coarse and rough, no real tire ruts to follow. It was also cold. I mean in the 30's cold and wind blasting anywhere from 30-50 mph. This was going to be painful, in the sense that it would not be fun at all. There was also a big hill at the turnaround. What was it with the hills??
Moonset at Albion, MT
Clint gave his speech and we all lined up for the start. For me, this was a torturous race. I walked all of it trying to be careful not to turn my ankles. I did end up doing it several times, but I didn't think it was too bad. Between the cold, wind and gravel this was the most miserable I had been up to this point. I think it took me 4, if not more hours to finish this race. The other girls finished in around 2 hours and had been sitting in the car warming up until I finished. Once I did finish I was a human popsicle. I managed to put some pants on and my sweatshirt and headed out with the next stop Devil's Tower since we were going right by it anyways.
We arrived at Devil's Tower in the early afternoon. We did the obligatory tourist thing and spent some time talking to another runner who asked which race we were doing. After giving her the lowdown, we headed up the hill in front of the rock and considered taking the hike around it but we were just too tired. We did see some climbers on the Tower but we ended up not staying long at all.
Devil's Tower selfie.
We ended up in Chadron, NE in the late afternoon and just ordered a pizza for dinner. A couple of us did some laundry, the room mates started packing their stuff because they would leave right after the next days race, we all got our gear for the next day ready and went to be fairly early.
Finishing Time: 3:59
Friday, September 20, 2013: Race #5 - Chadron, NE
All these early mornings all in a row were tiring. Gotta admit I think we were all happy that this was the last day of the series. My ankles were hurting this morning and I even considered not running this race, but because I wanted to qualify for Marathon Maniacs I decided that I had to do it. We took off about 45 minutes early to get to the venue, Chadron State Park. This was easily the most scenic of all the venues thus far. The course followed a trail through the woods for a short time, then on paved road up and around the campsites, up a hill, through some trees and back to the start. What was nice was that since it was a loop, during his morning speech Clint told us we could go in the reverse direction for a change of pace if we wanted to.
There was a sense of joy that we had completed this journey (or the part of it that you chose to do, not everyone did every race) and sadness that, even as tired as we were, it was almost over. After the customary speech by Clint we all lined up and were off. Early on my ankles didn't give me much trouble, but at about the halfway point they began hurting like the dickens and I began a full on walk just to finish the race. The further I got into the race the more my ankles hurt and I just contemplated quitting but the draw of making it into the Maniacs was too much to give up. I struggled on and finally at the finish of the last lap (of 12) I staggered...ok not so much staggering...into the finish turned in my rubberbands and got my Nebraska and Series Finishers medals.
Amy and I on the last day.
Denise and I on the last day.
Me, Denise, Michelle and Sherry...the room mates together one last time.
The other girls in the room had done the half and finished long before I did. By the time I had gotten to the room and I was alone again. My ankles were aching and a tad swollen and my body was sore so I had stopped on the way to the room and gotten two 20 pound bags of ice for an ice bath. After soaking in the ice bath for about 20 minutes or so I showered and got some Chinese food to go before just chilling out in the room for a while. After some rest I started packing up and brought everything I could out to the car so I wouldn't have to deal with it in the morning. Then I slept. I slept well, and thank goodness I did because it would be a long drive home in the morning.
Finishing Time: 7:40
Saturday, September 21, 2013: Travel Day
I was packed up and out of the hotel by 4pm...yes, another early morning but this time it was to head home so it was different somehow. The drive would take me through the south of Nebraska, into Kansas, the east side of Colorado, into the Texas panhandle and finally home. I had planned to be driving for 12-13 hours including gas and food stops.
The drive was mostly uneventful although I did drive through areas of Colorado that had been ravaged by the storms and flooding and where there was still flood water standing on the roads. As I got closer to Texas my left ankle was quite painful and when I looked and compared the two it was swollen to about twice the size of the right ankle. I made a decision to detour to Amarillo to stop at the VA hospital ER to have it checked. I was figuring that it was a stress fracture vs severe sprain. I ended up leaving with a walking boot and the promise of a bone scan sometime during the week. Preliminary xrays came up negative, as is the norm for stress fractures. So, aside from my medals I came home with a little extra something.
My "little extra something."
Medal haul for the week. Six races in 7 days.
What did I like about this race series?
Well organized, great snacks and hydration all the time, the camaraderie felt from seeing everyone over and over each day, friendly people.
What did I not like about this race series?
Not much, maybe just the difficulty in finding one of the venues.
Would I do this series again?
Maybe just the states that I need a full marathon in but I don't see myself being that much of a Maniac. However, I am planning on doing the Riverboat Series in April so yes, I'll be a repeat customer for this company (MainlyMarathons.com).
Race: M.A.D. Marathon Date: Saturday, July 27, 2013 @ 6am Location: Idaho Falls, ID
OK, I'll be honest, I'm writing this almost 4 months after the fact so I'm not going to follow my normal day to day narrative because honestly I don't remember what we did. Actually, we didn't do much of anything while in Idaho. The week after the half marathon was a lot of panicking about the full marathon coming up, visiting with my brother-in-law and his family plus a trip to Twin Falls to visit the guys grandmother, aunts and uncles, father and his family.
The one thing I did manage to do just about every day was to go for short runs mostly along the Great Blackfoot Area Greenbelt and to the gym. This is a relatively new, paved loop that travels north for about 5 miles to Rose Pond before turning around for the return trip. I never went to the end but I did go about 3 miles out and back. The trail is beautiful and the sights in the early morning are quite inspiring.
We spent most of the week just chilling at the house. David, the BIL, and his family came by on Wednesday and we made plans to drive to Twin Falls to see their grandmother, aunts/uncles and dad. Our nieces by the hubs little brother, Vince, came by most days and we'd play croquet, do a T25 video, go swimming and just goofed off at the house. That night the whole family went out to dinner at a local restaurant that the hubs and I had never been to.
On Thursday we made the trip to Twin Falls. Our first stop was at the guys aunts house where we had lunch and caught up with everyone. Since the day was nice we were all siting or standing on the back porch when we noticed to humming birds buzzing by chasing each other. I know I got some pictures of them, but I can't find them anywhere. All the time that I was trying to get pictures I was, literally, getting dive bombed by one of the crazy birds. After several hours visiting we took our leave and headed over to the father-in-laws house.
It had probably been 15 or so years since we'd seen the guys dad. This trip we were lucky enough to see their step brother, Tuan, whom we hadn't seen since the early 80's when we were all active duty military. I know I took some pictures but I'll be damned if I can find them anywhere. We spent the day eating crawfish and just talking around the table. Their step mother is Vietnamese so you know that the food was never ending as it is in most Asian households when visitors are expected (or even when they're not). We ended up heading back to Blackfoot around 4pm.
Friday the girls came by and it was packet pick up day in Idaho Falls for the M.A.D. Marathon and Half Marathon. This was the race that I had been dreading, my second full marathon. After driving the course I knew that I was in trouble. You've probably read my previous post where I'm in total panic mode. If not, you can read it here.
M.A.D. Marathon swag.
Saturday, race day at 0 dark 30. We met the Marathon Maniacs, we were the only 2 Half Fanatics to take a group picture as is tradition with most races.
I was bused to the start of the full marathon, Troy would be bused to the half marathon start an hour later. I had a sheer few minutes of panic thinking that I couldn't do this, but when it came time to line up I did so all the while telling myself to just do the best I could. Almost the whole time of the race I was in the last 5. It seemed that me and an older gentleman who was walking were taking turns passing each other...yes, by this time (about mile 15) I had started walking more than running. By mile 18 I felt as if I was leaning to the left, much like I did at the TinkerBell HM earlier in the year. By mile 19 I was stumbling and off balance. At mile 20 I threw in the towel and called it quits...better to be safe than sorry since a diagnosis had still not yet been made (and never has been). I have to admit, I was in tears at having to quit only 10K away from the finish but there were no more water stops and there was only one car driving the course to pick up anyone. I figured that we'd be up in Idaho eventually and I could just catch a different marathon for the state at that time. Yes, I was disappointed but like I said...better to be safe than sorry.
Finishing Time: DNF
We spent the next day just hanging out doing laundry and packing. We took off before dawn on Monday for the 16 or so hour drive home. It's funny but I feel differently about Blackfoot, a small town, than I did when we were living in California. I always thought I'd never be able to live in such a small town but after living here in Clovis, NM I kinda like it. Who knows maybe one day we'll move up to Idaho...
Well, here we are getting ready to head into June of 2013. I've had my race schedule set since the middle of 2012 and it's had many additions and deletions. In fact I still have 17 races to go ranging from half marathons to full marathons and OCRs (obstacle course races, Spartan and Tough Mudder). I also have a trip to Alaska to run a back to back marathon and 16 miler (also I get to visit one of my favorite couples). Most of these races are already paid for and I'll be SOL if I can't go to them for one reason or another like in 2012 when I went into a severe depression that caused me to not even get out of bed other than to use the bathroom and occasionally eat. I missed, or DNS'd, about 8-9 races that I had to suck up the loss of the registration fees. I did however get 2 of these races deferred but I won't be able to use one of them at all.
So, that brings me to 2014 I have a full schedule going on. Short races to full marathons and more Spartan Races (I think I'm a little addicted now). Anyway I counted my races for the year and they total 34!! The schedule includes at least one trip to Hawai'i because the back to back that I was going to do is no more because the half marathon I wanted to do changed their dates. Yeah, I'm a little irked at that. I wanted to get both my half marathon and full marathon in Hawai'i done in one trip to save money, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. The schedule also include two 5 day series of a mix of half marathon and full marathons. The nice thing is that there is no time limit so I don't have to stress about when I finish. One of the obstacle courses that I plan to do is the Mud Quest Run which is 13 miles and has 100 obstacles. They were rained on hard the day before the race this year so that made the mud that much better! It looked like everyone had fun even with all the muck. I also got myself into a 5 year legacy type situation with the Space Coast Marathon. Why did I do that? Because each year's medal represents the space program, namely the shuttle program and there's special bling at 5 years...2014 will be my 2nd year running. So much for not having to travel to Florida anymore!
Thirty four races in 2014! I can't believe it, then again it wouldn't be the first time. Of course things will likely change, but this schedule works on paper...literally. Oh, by the way, yes...I have started on 2015's race schedule already! ;)
So, is your 2014 race schedule made now? If not, when will you start making it up?
Well, the husband and I have finally fished his third half marathon and now he is Half Fanatic #4235. This means that I should be working on my marathon training while the hubs continues his half marathon training since my very first road marathon and both of us will be doing half marathons in July 21 in Idaho. We'll be visiting my mother in law and staying with her since both the races are about 30 minutes away from her house.
10K in Albuquerque back in 2011 when he was training.
The Color Run 2013 had not been hardly training.
Now, the hubs while finishing his first 3 half marathons was not well trained. He had trained and run shorter runs 5K and 10K back in 2011 but since then he's only done The Color Run this year and he walked for most of it. For months he knew that these was coming and he chose to sleep in more times than not and when he did "train" it mostly consisted of a 3-5 mile walk on the treadmill. His longest outdoor runs were about 3 miles up until about 2 weeks prior to the Oklahoma City Half Marathon. At that point, about 2 weeks out, I wanted to see how far he would get on at 12 mile run and he actually gave up at mile 6.5. I was really worried that he wouldn't finish so I never got too far ahead so that I go back an push him if he did give up. I only had to push him a little and by the time the last mile happened we were both slow for me due to cramping while he was complaining about his knees. He finished so that was good, but he was pretty much dying the next day. I think it was then that he realized that he had to actually train.
OKC Half Marathon, his first road race/2nd half marathon.
I really think he would finish due to poor training.
His second road half, he had done the Bataan Memorial Death March as his first, wasn't much better. Again his knees began bothering him and he slowed down much more that he did at the previous race. I finally got tired of waiting for him to catch up with me that I let him get about 2 blocks before me so that I could get a longer interval in. We both ended up walking the last 5K due to his knees and my accursed cramping at mile 10. I've offered to tape him up but he's refused because he would have to shave his legs.
So, for him to train I have to be awake and either going on my runs in the dark/barely light (see next paragraph) or chasing him out the door. He's always been one of those guys who wants to do everything with me, I on the other hand am usually a very independent sort who likes to go on adventures by myself. He's gotten particularly worse about being a bit glued to me since he retired. I know that I told him I'd train with him, but I didn't realize that he was quite a bit slower than I am! That's saying a lot because I am slow. So, what I do now is wake him up and make sure he's out of bed before I go run or leave early come back home when he's supposed to be awake getting ready just to make sure that he is doing so then return to my run sometimes running a few miles with him. That's really not very convenient since my longer runs take me miles away from home. Instead I end up doing loops until it's time to ensure that he's awake. This helps a little because sometimes he wants to do a run and actually gets up other times it's like trying to wake up a 10 year old. I even told him that he needs to wake up on his own because I won't always be around such as when I'm gone to a race. His training when I'm gone is hit and miss.
Right now in the late spring/early summer it's not bad because he only works 2 days a week and is out of school, but when school is in session he has to run when it's barely light or still dark. I, on the other hand, have to run during the day due to medical reasons...an almost non-existent Vitamin D level. I don't know why I have that problem considering that I take a multivitamin with double the recommended dose of Vitamin D and the amount of dairy I digest but I have to run during daylight most of the time.
I've started telling him how many miles he has to run and even give him the routes since I now have short runs of 8+ miles (aside from "rest" days when I do a mile for the Runners World Streak Challenge). Once he is able to meet my short runs, I'll let him start running with me until he gets to 10 or 11 miles then he's on his own to continue training. I on the other hand need to step up my game so that I can be on track to finish my marathon training by mid-July. I do wish he'd start using his MotoACTV so that we can track the actual mileage and get other stats to see how he's doing, but so far he hasn't used it (he's had it for probably 5-6 months).
So for now, we'll stay with what we're doing and hope for the best for him. Myself, I'm finally back up to 12 mile long runs and short runs of 6-10 miles. Hopefully, I'll be ready to go by July.
Have you trained with someone who was slower than you or who just didn't seem to have the drive to train? Or who just didn't seem to have the necessary commitment? What did you do? I'm looking for ways to motivate him but at the same time my training cannot be sidetracked trying to get him where he needs to be. Help!
