Been Through the Pain

Balls! Ya'll, I don't know if you know this or not but....um, it's hotttt. I don't know if you know this either, but I don't like to get up early, something you probably could have extrapolated from my lazy blogginess and my lack early runs. Therefore, heat + not-so-early bird makes for a runner that's forced to pick what circumstance they'd prefer.

Sunday, I had intended on running at 6:30am with a group for a six miler. Perfect. I committed to being there. It was early, so it beat the heat and they were meeting on a trail I frequent. WRONG. My abhorrence for waking up any earlier than what my body thinks is totally necessary beat out running in the heat.

So I slept past 10am, and begrudgingly awoke to a whiny antsy dog. I farted around for about an hour, flirting with the idea of a run or completely blowing it off. Before I knew it, 11am rolled around and I had accomplished nothing so I laced up the lunars. It was 90ish outside, so I went to leave without G. As I stepped out the door, the slightest cry escaped his jowls. I looked back only to see his little boxer head cocked, his eyes glistening and a look that absolutely slayed me. How could you? Well I couldn't.

Spare the lecture, we stopped every five to ten minutes for water and to cool down. With the heat index being well over 100, I knew it could be dangerous for him to be out running so I did my best to keep him hydrated, cooled down and we took it slow. We stopped at our swimming spot, then again under the 2 mile bridge, at two drinking fountains and then finally at a water fountain.

All in all, it was a wonderful run. I didn't feel too overheated, but all this water I found myself with the biggest urge to pee at the split. Typically, I can hold it or manage but not this time. I panicked, found a secluded tree and um, relieved myself. Goliath just stood there, cocked his head like before, I usually hike a leg-but that works too I guess.

Mileage: 6.01

Time: 1:02:44

Just Enough Time

OK FOLKS: My rest weeks are over. I gave myself two weeks to "rest" before full marathon training. I think we all know why rest is in quotes, I did run slightly. Nothing over five miles, and did do Dog-n-Jog-but nothing major, nothing that would injure myself and nothing that boosted my lactate threshold.

And since this blog is about honesty, this week (week one) of training was basically non-existent. I hadn't fully wrapped my mind around training. I think if I don't start, maybe it won't happen? Am I chickening out? ...no...psh...no....ok maybe. I'm sorry, the thought of running 26.2 miles TERRIFIES me. Training for a half didn't intimidate me at all, 13.1 really seemed totally manageable. But double that, and I'm shaking in my nikes. Seriously, who's idea was this? Oh right, mine.

I'm registered. I have a solid training schedule. I have a great running buddy, and support for long runs. Why am I so nervous? The thought of crossing the finish line nauseates me, and gives me chills. This will be, hands down, my biggest physical accomplishment-maybe even take out that modifier, my biggest accomplishment. I feel that if you can run a marathon, you can pretty much do anything. If you can have the wherewithal and the mental fortitude to run 26.2 miles, then you have the great glass elevator. You can go anywhere, you can do anything.

True to form, I've set some lofty goals for this marathon. Nope, finishing isn't enough. People "just finish" marathons all the time. At the KC Marathon I will: 1) Run the entire thing, only stopping for stations and maybe stretching 2) Finish sub4 hours 3)Set a half marathon PR 4)Really enjoy it.

Can I do it?

111 DAYS TO 26.2

KC Humane Society Dog-n-Jog Recap

Hands down. Favorite race of the year. 2 miles, 4 laps around the plaza with 2,100 other dogs. What else is there to say?

The "race" was Sunday at 8:15am, so Goliath, Logan and our friends Danee and (you all know) Ellie the greyhound loaded in our car and drove down to the Plaza. We got there early enough to register Danee and Ellie for the 1 mile run, and explore all the booths. Tons of goodies and treats for dogs, and really clever incentives like turn in your picked up dog poop for a entry into a raffle, thus encouraging dog clean up. There was agility workshops and several shelters and this goes without saying, but TONS of dogs.

Every dog was so well behaved, and it was like Goliath and I were in the mecca of people-human-combos just like us. It was a sanctuary for us: dogs that need to run, and furparents that need to run either for the sake of their sanity or their pets. Nobody got all bent out of shape when Goliath sniffed their kids butt, and vice-a-versa. What is going on? You aren't totally anal about who your dog associates with? Guys, I could have cried. Magic. I loved it. Such unadulterated happiness, for us both.

I put race in quotes because: it's not chip timed, running clock, four laps, loosely measured and really not competitive at all. Regardless, I set a goal for us: finish sub16. It was a two mile race, four laps total(woah that gets boring). On our first lap, G-Money took world's largest poo right in the middle of the road. I was mortified. He just stopped short, squatted and done deal-2lbs of poopie for people to run in. So I scooped it up, back tracked to a trashcan and continued to run-only to see another mortified runner guarding her dog's mess. She, unfortunately, had not brought a bag. I untied my spare for her, handed it over and carried on.

The rest is history. We did three more laps, all on cue. Goliath was incredibly behaved, I think he wanted to prove to his counterparts that even though at the dog park he's a nut, on a leash with mileage ahead he's a machine. We'd pass bigger, faster dogs and he'd look bank with a little twinkle in his eyes Yeah, I was bred for road racing-eat mai dust. Once he even barked at someone slowing down, could it be? My little motivator motivating other pups? Nah, he was probably just gloating This is nuffin, I run two miles in mai kennel.

We finished at 15:03, grabbed some water and had our picture taken by the newspaper. Considering our little poopie snafoo, and our benevolence I was really pleased. Goliath was too proper to swim in the dog pools provided, and instead wanted to lick the ice surrounded the water bottles for the humans. Nobody seemed to mind-seriously. Heaven for us, it's a shame it's only once a year.

If you're near the KC Metro area, love dogs and can run even a little bit-definitely do this next year, it was some of the most fun I've had in a long time. OH, and we made a cameo on the news: HERE, we run by at 0:49 mark, and my sassy little spouse is in the background the whole time.

Total Mileage: 2.0

Time: 15:03

Cherry Glazed Chops

All you need:

1 pork chop

2 tsp olive oil

1 clove garlic

1/2 c fresh cherries

1/4 tsp brown sugar

salt and pepper

1. Heat oil in an ion pan over med-high, saute diced garlic in oil until fragrant
2. Add pitted and halved cherries to hot oil, and cook until soft.
3. Salt and pepper the chop, and toss in pan, allow the cherries to inundate the chop, but not sit under it.
4. Brown on both sides, add brown sugar to the top of the chop and scoop up cherries and put on top as well. Turn the head to medium, and cover the pan so steam can not escape for two minutes.
5. eat.
   

I Want It All, and All

Last week, I was recovering from HHR and worked overtime. The overtime served as running prevention since I was not sore from the race but some tendons in my foot were causing me a good amount of pain. When I walked it felt like there were cotton balls being shredded in my foot, except the cotton balls were on fire-catch my drift? Not wanting to make whatever it was worse, I refrained from running and only did some light walking.

Friday evening, Goliath and I had a date with a creek and a trail and 90% humidity. There was a jazz festival taking place alongside the trail, so there were hundreds of people in lawn chairs and picnics. Somebody desperately wanted to have a meet-greet-and eat, he tugged in a direction opposite of the norm: sideways, not forward. We walked about a mile and a half to our "spot," you know the place. The mini-waterfall, the ducks and slabs of concrete. Unlike every trip there, I decided it was my turn to test the waters. I slipped off my lunarglides, and tiptoed into the frigid rushing creek.

The water felt uh-ma-ZING. I had to control myself from just jumping all the way in, the humidity was out of control and even though we had only walked sweat was pouring down my face and chest. Goliath batted at my toes peeking up, I think he wanted me to swim with him. That is until he saw some mallards. You know what's next right?

He was off, but not in the speedy running prey-drive sense. He was off, in the swimming-for-my-life-dog-paddle-as-fast-as-I can sense. He was also off in the "hey, I'm the most subborn dog alive and am gonna pretend not to hear you." Usually, when Goliath nears the ducks they fly away, and he swims back. This time, unlike every other time, they just kept swimming. They swam, so he swam. Mind you, I was hollering for him incessantly and then he swam the bend and was completely out of sight.

Shoeless and panicked, I darted off after him along the trail. The trail intersects the creek again in a few hundred meters and I knew I'd beat him there, but by the time I got there the ducks had arrived but my precious pup was no where to be seen. Fearing he'd drowned, I ran down a steep embankment completely barefoot only to see he had swam back to our slabs, and was guarding my shoes and cell phone.

Unlike EVERY other time.

Total Mileage: 3.0

Goliath and I are BEAUTIFUL BLOGGERS...are you?

Big UPs to Jessica from Jessica's Jaunt and Kelly from Kohlrabi and Quince for bestowing this awesome award upon us!

The rules: pass the award on to 7 bloggers and write 7 things about myself that you did not know!

1. You don't know....that I'm wearing a t-shirt for a 5k that I didn't run, but I wear it anyway because I didn't run because it was canceled for it being too cold.
2. You don't know...that I'm shooting for a sub 4hour marathon in October.
3. You don't know....that Goliath and I are running our first race together Sunday.
4. You don't know...that I hate when people make tons of excuses, but I frequently come up with them myself....oh wait, you probably do know that
5. You don't know...that my least favorite color is purple probably steaming from a hatred of the teletubbies
   
6. You don't know...that I care about people a lot, it probably will kill one day
7. You don't know that...I send over 10,000 text messages a month and this is dramatically lower than what it use to be.

I would like to crown:
Megan from Life of Megan
Melissa from Running with Needles
Meagan of Meagan gets her MRS
Bethany from Life's Little Epiphanies and Beth is Racing
Katie from The New "Good Ole Daze"
Beth at Beth's Journey to Thin
Jami Jo from Jami Jo on Girth Control

Time Keeps On Slippin'

Here's what you've missed in the last week, lots of dog park-swimming-trail runnig:

Hospital Hill Run Recap

The Hospital Hill Half Marathon is the second longest running half marathon in the country. On it's 37th year, Megan and I decided to tackle this notorious monster. In the months and weeks leading up to the 13.1 miles, I found myself asking veterans and new runners alike what to expect, and how to prepare. At the GOTR 5k, I was told that if we could finish the Topeka to Auburn half we could definitely finish Hospital Hill. TtoA was Megan's first half, and my worst. So you tell me-reassuring or repulsive advice?

Regardless, Saturday we both showed up and ready to "conquer the hill." Well "ready" is a relative term. This was my fundraising race for KCREGAP, and I was running around helping with the booth and getting everything situated. I didn't stagger to the starting line until 6:58, and was finding my pace team while they were counting the seconds to guntime. Megan and I didn't ride together, and she left her phone in the car so I was also frantically searching for my solemate.

Guntime. I'm off and somewhat panic stricken. I can not do this race alone. Thinking I couldn't do alone, but knowing I just couldn't not do it I set out. I nervously searching among the heads of runners, looking behind me and as I decided to look forward instead of behind me Megan taps my shoulder. She doesn't know this, but I could have cried in that second. In a race of nearly seven thousand she spotted me within a minute of guntime.

The first mile went uphill, turned and went back downhill. Our first mile split was in between our goals. We weren't really sure what to aim for, since we've had varying advice (i.e. expect 20-40 minutes above your PR). At packet pick-up, Garmin had pace bracelets for runners designed for the course according to mile difficulty and elevation. So we had 2:00 and 2:30 bracelets, and after the first mile it was clear we were hitting the higher end of our range.

Each mile after that, our splits were right on the money for the 2:30 time frame. The name Hospital Hill, is no misnomer. The race is nearly entirely uphill, and done intentionally to make it challenging. The hardest hills were miles 2,3,4 and then again mile 10, 11 and the monolithic 60degree incline at mile 13.

Did I mention the heat and humidity? It was 80ish at guntime with no sun, and by 8 the sun had peeked through the clouds. We persevered. Even with walking when totally necessary, our splits were still hitting 11:00s. The course was fantastic, with tons of support at the aid stations. The other runners were nice, and chatty. We exchanged jokes, encouragement and rallied for beer and pancakes.

Crossing the finish line was incredible. I wanted to be emotional about it. Tears of joy? My body has no idea what those are. I promise I tried to cry a little, like Hello, Julia? You just finished KC hardest half marathon. Maybe more remarkable is not my tears, but my overwhelming nonchalance (oxymoron). I couldn't cry or being emotionally moved because I KNEW I could do this, I had the confidence and training to finish. Cocky? Perhaps, but don't even pretend like you wouldn't be even a little.

My Heart is Fried

Are you so over me apologizing for me a lazy blogger? Truth is, I love blogging but it does take a back seat when I become a busy monster.


It's 9:30, and I'm EXHAUSTED so this abbreviated post will just be a preface of some future epic posts, ok? I promise.

TODAY MEGAN AND I CONQUERED THE HILL. Hospital Hill Half Marathon that is.

Hospital Hill is the second oldest half in the country, and is almost entirely uphill. Here are some photographic highlights, and full recap to follow.

Love you!