Getting Older

Fair warning:  This is not a happy post.  Proceed at your own risk.

The best thing about having a sister was that I always had a friend.  

-Cali Rae Turner

Getting Older.  It's something we all do.  We have a birthday every year, we celebrate what our lives have brought that year.  Typically, we celebrate with family.

My sister, Shana, and I.  Laughing.

Today, I should be celebrating with my sister Shana.  Today, I should tease her because she is turning 29.  I should be able to tease her about getting old and in one more year, she'll be the dreaded 30.  Because we all know, she would have teased me about how old I was when I turned 30.

And, she would say, "And yet, I'm still younger than you!"

Instead, I spent last night freaking out about getting a run in today despite the weather forecast, because I know I won't make it through the day without that run.  Instead, I'm wishing I'd HAD those extra ten years of teasing from my sister.  (Or am I missing the extra ten years I should have been teasing her?).

I didn't always tease her.  I was actually quite protective of her.

It's sad for me to think that I have a lot of really close friends now that never even met my sister.  They never got to be on the receiving end of one of her well timed sarcastic remarks.  They never got to be the victims of the Mandy-Shana spades duo.  They never got to sit quietly in the car afraid to move while I threatened to throw my sister out for badmouthing my favorite Supreme Court Justice.

In a month, I'll run my first marathon.  My sister won't be the obnoxious short girl in the feather boa, tutu and cowbells cheering like a maniac as I come around a corner.  But, she would have been.  

Shana wearing ALL her Christmas Gifts one year.

Unfortunately, nine and half years ago, my sister Shana chose to take her own life at the age of 19.  It's still the worst day of my life.  I miss her every single day.  These days, most of the days, it's a simple sort of missing:  "Shana would've loved this", or "Shana would've hated that."

Today, not so much.  Today, it's "Avery would've loved her crazy Aunt Shana".
It's "Shana should have thanked me in an academy award speech by now".   All of them thought with copious amounts of tears.  It's not fair that Avery has to grow up without all the crazy experiences and opinions Shana would have exposed her to.  It's not fair that I don't have my sister to call when I've just had a bad day and need someone to snap me out of it.

I hate knowing that I am a very different person today than I was the last time I spoke with my sister.  Would she even recognize the woman I've become?

Happy Birthday Little Sister.  I love you so much.  And my heart breaks whenever I focus on the fact that you simply aren't here.

Shana and I, Summer 1996.

There is no substitute for the comfort supplied by the utterly taken-for-granted relationship.

- Iris Murdoch 

Virginia Beach RNR Recap

Race: Virginia Beach RNR Half Marathon
Distance:  13.1 miles
Date:  September 2, 2012, 7:30am start
Finish time:  2:35:40
What sets this race apart:  Part of the Rock N Roll Marathon Series

Labor Day weekend, I got on a plane to travel to a race for the first time.  (We drove the last time I went to an out-of-state race).  I also left the baby overnight for the first time!

I traveled with two of my training buddies, Lynne and Laurie.  We shared a suite at the Holiday inn that had two queen beds and a pull out couch...and our patio doors opened onto the beach!

Sunrise from our room the first morning

We flew in Friday night and attended the race expo on Saturday.  I have to say, the major benefit of big races may be the expo goodies.  It was truly one of the best expos I've ever gone to.  Usually, I could care less about expos.  I don't know if it was because this was a race-cation, because I was kid-free, or what, but I really had fun!  I purchased a few things, enjoyed lots of freebies, and even did the silly photo shoots!

Yes, that is tuna fish.
I neglected to place the purchased items in the photo, these are the freebies.

...and I got to see the Goofy medals in person!  The photos just didn't do them justice.

Laurie and I will both be traveling to Florida for the Goofy in January

As we left the Expo, we all commented on how HOT and HUMID it was.  Unfortunately, it was a little bit of a race-day-weather preview!

We had some hiccups when it came to finding a place for dinner the night before the race, leaving all of us a bit dissatisfied with our meal.  We also walked many more miles looking for a spot than we'd really intended.  Once I got my spaghetti at the place we settled on, the sauce actually TASTED oily.  I opted to not finish the meal, and wound up eating wheat thins for dinner when I got back to the hotel.

I actually slept decently the night before the race, and I had my usual pre-run breakfast.  (I packed my granola cereal, wise decision).  Nonetheless, I had some GI issues that morning.  We made two port-a-potty stops pre-race, and both times I was doing more than peeing.  (TMI?)  I also had a bit of a dehydration headache and drank an EXTRA bottle of water at the start line. (I'd already drank 16.9 oz before leaving the hotel).  I also felt the need to take a second salt pill.  Before. The. Race. Even. Started.

We all started in the same corral, which gave us some nice photo ops!

Gotta love those early morning starts!

I started the race exactly how I wanted to, a little on the slower side of my race pace to get warmed up, then I settled in around a 10:30-10:45 min/avg.  I had decided I was going to walk through all the hydration stops to make sure I stayed hydrated.
Mile 1: 11:00
Mile 2: 10:27
Mile 3: 10:38
Mile 4: 11:07
Mile 5: 11:04
Mile 6: 11:15
Somewhere around mile 2, I felt like I needed to take a GU, but I didn't.  Big mistake.  The water stops were fairly far apart for a hot race, so by the time I made it to the next water stop and took a GU, I was already starting to feel pretty bad.  I was still on pace to make my race goals, but began to re-evaluate.  Based on how I was feeling, and the heat, continuing at that pace would not have been smart for my health and overall marathon training.  I started walking slower through the water stops and taking both water and Gatorade.
Mile 7: 12:10
Mile 8: 12:25
Mile 9: 12:59
This is where everything blew up.  After walking through the mile 7 water stop and gagging on the GU I attempted to take, I kept walking even after I was done with the water stop.  Mentally?  That was the first sign of game over.  In mile 8, I got the first concrete symptoms of heat stroke and realized that I wasn't going to make a PR.  I started walking in earnest, and embarrassingly, pulled out my cell phone to send  a few text messages.  I sent my husband a message saying that I wouldn't PR and that I was walking.  I sent my friend Lynne a message that I was walking and waiting for her and Laurie to catch up to me.  Enter the self-abusing thoughts.  I questioned whether or not I was really a runner if I couldn't even run a half marathon without walking, I questioned whether or not I should keep training for a full marathon, and I called myself an idiot for signing up for the Goofy Challenge in January.
Mile 10: 13:35
Mile 11: 12:02
Mile 12: 12:30
Mile 13: 12:34
Last bit: 9:27
Garmin distance: 13.21 miles.
During mile 11 is where Lynne caught up with me.  I ran with her for a bit, before telling her to go ahead and walking a bit more.  What made it especially hard to get motivated is that most of the people around me were also walking.  It was just that hot.  The heat index was 95 at the end of the race.

But a free post-race slurpee makes everything better!

What did I learn?  Heat is my kryptonite.  Of course, I already knew that.  It didn't help that we'd had a couple of cooler weeks in Ohio before traveling to this race.  I also learned, if I am going to sign up for a race that has potential race temperatures in this heat range, I need to do some of my summer training in the afternoon, instead of doing all of it before the sun rises.  This will allow me to be better heat acclimated.

What I liked about the race?

• Great swag
• Great post-race refreshments: Gatorade bottles, chocolate milk, oranges, popsicles, slurpees and more
• The bands on the course were pretty decent.
• Flat - only hill was the overpass, which we did both directions.
• The expo
• The themed neighborhoods.
• Post race concert

What I found disappointing?

• The frequency of the water stops and how well they did or did not keep up with the crowds.  I did manage to get water at each stop without terrible delays, and even got a second cup to dump on my head at several.  I felt they were too far apart given the temperatures that day.
• The crowd.  I love big races, but this race never thinned out.  And with the heat and how many people turned to walking, it made navigation tougher.
• The weather.  Hotter than normal, but not outside the range of average for VB that time of year.  Note to self: check that when signing up for a race next time.
• The medal ribbon.  The medal itself is pretty awesome, the ribbon takes away from it.
• For a rock and roll event, I expected more bands.  It seemed like there are actually more on-course entertainers at both of the big races in Columbus, OH.
• My performance.  Not going to lie, I was extremely bummed at how poorly I performed.  I walked as much as I ran those last 5 miles.  It actually felt harder than my 20 mile training run I completed this past Saturday.

Post race ocean celebration!

Jumping into the ocean with Lynne and Laurie after the race was probably my favorite part of the entire trip.  (Although salt water and chafing are not a good combo!)

After lunch, we read by the pool, which was also nice.  Then, we all went parasailing, my first time ever!

We were 1000 feet up!

That night, we saw Train in concert on the beach, which was pretty fun.

Despite a bad race performance, it was a pretty fun girls weekend and a nice break from being a full-time mommy!

~Mandy

Have you ever had a race that just didn't go as planned?  How did you bounce back?

What is your running kryptonite?

Have you ever been parasailing?

Would you rather run a half marathon at the beach or go parasailing?

Training Update: Revisiting College!

Week of Sept 3-9, 2012:

Current Weight: 157.4 (Down 3.0 lbs from previous reported weight!)

Total Lost to date: 63.4 lbs

Monday: Rest day - travel home from Virginia
Tuesday: Ran 5 miles in 55:46, 11:10 min/mile avg
Wednesday: Ran 6 miles in 1:04:37, 10:47 min/mile avg
Thursday: Ran 5 miles in 58:40, 11:47 min/mile avg; ST with Adam
Friday: Rest day
Saturday: Ran 10.2 miles in 1:59:39, 11:21 min/avg
Sunday: Ran 4 miles in 38:52, 9:44 min/avg

For the past couple of months or so, I've been on a plateau with the weight loss.  So, I stopped reporting weigh-ins the past few weeks as I had more fun things to write about, like race reports, or I wasn't writing at all (oops!).

Last week, I weighed in at 164.0 lbs, up about 3 lbs after my first race-cation and partly due to TTOM bloat.  So, supposedly, I lost 6.6 lbs in 1 week!  HA!  I think we can safely say, some of that was water weight.  

Regardless, it's clear that I did lose weight last week and I am officially in the 150's for the first time since college (the first trip).  WOOHOO!

This week was fairly uneventful.  I got back into a routine after my race-cation over labor day, but it was also a fall back week.  Result?  Only 30.2 miles for the week.

The main excitement?  When we started our 10 mile run on Saturday, a front came through, bringing torrential rain and crazy winds.  Still better than the heat from the weekend before!!!  Plus, my running group gave us all free ice cream after the run.  Is there anything better than free ice cream?

Don't we look happy about the ice cream???  :D

I promise a recap of my not-so-stellar performance at the Virginia Beach RnR Half Marathon on labor day weekend will be up before too terribly long.  

The post race dive into the ocean fully clothed made everything worth it though!

I am fighting the toddler battles.  She seems to enjoy falling asleep at various mommy's groups for 20 minutes, and then decides that is enough nap for the entire day.  (news flash - it's not!)

I'll nap if you let me get in the water with this guys mom, promise!

We also recently upgraded our cable (so that we could get the Longhorn Network).  The upside of this?  HBO on Demand.  I am rather enjoying Game of Thrones during the limited naptimes.

Speaking of, time to go rescue the rugrat from the horrible crib monsters that must be eating her!

You're tougher if you drink taco sauce instead of formula, that's what all the studies say.

How is your training going?  Any fun races coming up?

Do you like to run in the rain?

Have you ever jumped into a pool or an ocean fully clothed?

It's all about the shirt

So, I've been extremely frustrated by my recent plateau weight wise.  I've been hovering around 160-162 for a while now.  In fact, I recently told my husband that it was time to break up with the scale for a few weeks.

Today, it's all about the shirt.

I was trying to decide what I would wear for my trip to the zoo with Avery and Laurie today.  I thought, what the heck, and tried on a shirt that I bought over two years ago.  I bought this shirt when I saw the musical Wicked in July 2010.  It was one of those shirts that runs small.  I absolutely loved it though, and was planning to lose weight, so I bought it anyway.

At the time, I couldn't even really wear it at home in private, that's how small it was.  Then, I got pregnant and gained a ton of weight while pregnant....most of you know this story by now.

Today.  The shirt fit.  It fit, it fit, it fit.  Not a "if I use my knees to stretch it out fit," It FIT.

It fits!

Sideview!

Yes, I still have a lot more work I want to do - both in regards to weight loss and physical goals I want to meet: climbing a mountain, running a marathon, running Goofy, running an Ultra....getting faster.

But, today, it's all about the shirt.

And the shirt freaking fits.

Ice Baths for Dummies

Since I was paced a half marathon and then tacked on 3 extra miles this past Sunday, I thought to myself, perhaps it's time to suck it up and take an ice bath.   My standing joke with my training buddies has been "the closest I will ever get to an ice bath is if I fall in a snow bank during winter training."

Hahaha!  That's not a bath mommy!

I told my friends post-race that I intended to try an ice bath and they were full of lots of very helpful advice.

• Start the bath water slightly warmer than ice cold, so that it's not such a shock to the system.  Then have your husband dump in the ice once you are sitting in it.
• Start small.  As in - use a small bag of ice or whatever ice is in the icemaker in the freezer
• Go in fully clothed.
• Wear something warm on top - a sweatshirt or something.
• Only fill the tub to just over your legs, or waist height.
• Bring your kindle.
• Bring a hot drink.

Despite all this helpful advice, I still managed to screw it up.  HA!  I took the start-the-bath-water-slightly-warmer-than-ice-cold advice a bit too far.  The bath water was more not-warm than it was cold.  The ice from the bag of ice melted so quickly...

It's melting...it's melting!

...that I made my husband go down to the ice-maker and get all that ice to add to the bath too.  And yes, I made him take another ice bath picture after the new ice was added.  I'm special that way.

Homemade ice is the best!

Mistake #2.  I did not account for the size of my tub when making ice purchasing decisions.  When I got home, Avery was napping, so using the smaller second bathroom tub was not really a good idea.  (It shares a wall with Avery's room.)   My master bathroom tub is big enough for probably me and all my training buddies to take an ice bath together. (That would be a whole DIFFERENT kind of blog).  Nonetheless, when I bought my ice, I stuck with the smaller ice bag based on the sound advice I was given of starting small.

The two mistakes together (starting temperature and quantity of ice), made for an ice bath that was cold when the ice was put in...and only sort of cold afterwards.

I didn't do the hot beverage, and didn't need to because of my earlier mistakes.  I did do the warm top - and that advice was the BEST ever!  And, not coincidentally, the one that I didn't screw up.  My clearance rack REI hoodie worked fabulously.

I also used a kitchen timer to make sure I stayed in for the right amount of time.  Even though my "ice" bath wasn't super cold, I stayed in for the full 15 minutes, I figured it wouldn't hurt.  And yes, having my kindle helped pass the time.

What what I do differently next time?

• Keep in mind the size of my tub!  Buy 2 of the LARGE bags of ice.

That's it actually.  I would buy a lot more ice, so that I could still start with the tub water at a not-warm, but not freezing temperature.  I liked that, it wasn't bad getting into the tub to start with.  And, I actually liked it when the ice was added to that, the cold felt good.  My theory is that the ice melting so quickly wouldn't be an issue with a higher quantity of ice.  Or maybe I'm just deluding myself?

Apparently - I'm treating ice baths like one of my chemistry experiments...

I do miss these days!

I promise, I did not pull out a lab notebook and take notes as to volume of bath water, temperature and quantity of ice...but now I am tempted to measure the temp of the water.  What ice bath temperature is ideal?  Oops.  My nerd is showing!

Somebody else will laugh at this - I just know it.

Have you ever taken an ice bath?

Any advice to add to or change from what I was given or did?

Are you like me in that I only change one variable at a time?  HA!

Emerald City 2012 Recap

Race: Emerald City Quarter/Half Marathon
Distance:  13.1 miles
Date:  August 26, 2012, 7am start
Finish time:  2:51:06*
What sets this race apart:  One of the first big races in Columbus area to feature the quarter marathon as it's main race distance.
*Ran this race as part of the pace team. My goal time was 2:50

It's all about the bling! Gorgeous medal.  Same medal for both half and quarter finishers

The Emerald City Race will always have a special place in my heart.  This was my first ever race - I ran the quarter marathon during it's inaugural year in 2010.  I actually had to walk a bit back then because I was still so new to running.

This year, I ran this race as part of the "World Famous MIT Pace Team."  It's kind of fun to get emails addressed to "World Famous pacers."  :D   Pacers typically get assigned based on preferences, but are expected to pace a time much slower than your best time.  The idea is that the goal time should be an easy pace for you.  My assigned time was a 2:50 finish.  I was assigned to pace with an experienced pacer so that she could help us hit the splits.

The pace team pre-race

I had a lot of fun pacing this race!  I talked most of the time - I know, you're all shocked!  I actually had people tell me post-race that hearing "Mandy" coming up behind them was motivating.  HA!   I did lose most of the people running with my pace sign (and my fellow pacer) somewhere after mile 10.  They all fell back a bit.  

Coming around the corner towards the finish line.
Some of the volunteers joined me because pacers shouldn't finish alone.

I finished 13.24 miles in 2:51:06.  I missed the goal by a minute!  How did I go wrong?  I didn't allow for enough time per mile for the extra distance most people (myself included) run on a course.  I will do better next time!   I now know that I need to pace at a 5 sec per mile faster pace to allow for that extra distance.  Lesson learned!

What I love about the race?

• The course - it's not all a road race.  At least half of the race is on paved trails through wooded areas and Glacier Ridge Metro Park.
• It's a smaller field, with a different atmosphere.
• All the cute young cheerleader groups that cheer us on!
• The post race food and clean port-o-potties.  M3S Sports has this part of races down to a science.  Post race food: chocolate milk, water, bagels, apples and bananas.  GU was provided around mile 9.  I stopped to pee around mile 6, the potty was clean, and there was actually a fully stocked sanitizing foam in the potty!

What is NOT my favorite about this race?

• The section where we run on a boardwalk.
• The lack of big crowds - I do like the extra umph you can get from lots of adoring fans.
• Smaller field.  (I know I listed this in both section).  I ran miles 10-13 mostly by myself.  At the quarter marathon turn-off, a large portion of the group following our pace banner turned for the quarter distance.  I need people to listen to me blabber!  HA!
• The sport drink.  I've begun taking salt pills and drinking water (instead of sports drinks) at these races because GU Brew is the new Gatorade - and my stomach hates it.

The weather started cool, because sunrise was at 6:55am.  Pretty awesome to see the sunrise as the race started!  It got pretty warm by the end of the race.  This brings to me to the other thing M3S sports did right - in the finish chute, first you were handed a cold bottle of water, next station was ice cold wet clothes to help cool you down.  Then, you exited for the food and a massage/stretch station.  Afterwards, you could cross the the parking lot to BW's for free food and beverages.

Of course, I didn't stay to enjoy all those things.  I snapped a quick photo with my husband.  Mark ran the quarter marathon in under an hour!  He went and enjoyed the free food and decided to wait for me to finish (pretty easy to guess my finish time since I was a pacer - ha!).

And yes, he got the same medal for half the distance.  :)

Then - I topped off my fuel belt bottles and ran backwards on the course.  I stopped to GU because it'd been several miles since my last one, and then ran out to the first water stop.  I ran back, and stopped to walk once I hit 3 extra miles.  I did the extra 3 miles in 32:40, including stopping time.  A bit faster than I should be doing any portion of my 16 mile long run, but that's okay.

Amazing how much emptier the finish line was after those bonus 3 miles.  I still searched out a bagel and a banana.  Then, I went to BW's, but all the free food was gone.  I stayed anyway, and ate a lot of hot wings with friends to "refuel."

I was so jazzed after I got home and attempted my first water ice bath, that I wouldn't shut up.  (I'll post about the bath experiment separately).  My husband is so lucky to get to hear endless recaps of my runs!  I know he treasures every single second.

I really enjoyed pacing the race - what a different way to do a race.  It was a lot of fun meeting other runners as we were pacing and helping them reach their goals.  I'll definitely pace again!

Have you ever gone back out for extra miles after a race?  Did you notice a big difference in the post-race festivities as well?

Would you ever pace a race?

Do you ever do the same race year after year?  This was my 3rd year doing Emerald City.

Do you ever bore your friends and family with endless recaps of your long runs?  Please tell me I'm not alone!

Not tapering - taper madness

This morning, I did not meet up with my running group for a 16 mile run.  I got up, ate breakfast, and laid back down until the kid woke up.  

I didn't go to meet my group because I'm pacing a half marathon tomorrow.  And running 3 bonus miles after the race just for fun.

Fridays are my normal rest days, so I didn't run yesterday either.  Avery and I went to the zoo.

Mommy - we didn't have to go to the zoo for me to push the stroller - I'll push it anywhere.

By 10am this morning, anything anyone did was extremely annoying.  

In an effort to curb the madness, I suggested we get out of the house and do something.  But, Ohio is having record breaking heat, again.  To get me out of the house, we went to the mall.  Where my husband thought pushing the stroller meant you had to walk the pace of a freaking snail.  I finally snatched the stroller to force the speed issue.

I think I might finally understand what everyone means when they say the phrase "taper madness".  Not that I am currently in taper mode in any way shape or form.  

Taper madness makes me eat the paper in the race packets.

Apparently, two days of no running for Mandy is bad for the whole family.  Once my husband realized what my issue was, he found the whole thing funny.

Which, of course, I found irritating.

In addition, today, I ate my weight in Krispy Kreme donuts.  That was another brilliant "let's get crazy Mandy out of the house" outing.  I'd intended to buy ONE donut.  My husband thought we needed a dozen.  Of course, he can resist sugary confections in the house, and I cannot.  I believe I ate 5 donuts today.  Donuts make a healthy lunch, right?

I'm not sure I really weighed the two options...

Other weirdness - tomorrow I'm running/pacing a half marathon.  And yet, it seems like no big deal, just business as usual.  I'm also racing a half marathon next weekend.  The Rock N Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon.

Again, no taper plans, no nerves, not even really thinking about my plan other than the fact that I intend to race it.  The only thing I am thinking about it is - whether or not I will run a few easy miles before and after the race, since 18 is on my schedule.

When did half marathons become no big deal???  Is it because I'm training for a full marathon now? Because I signed up for the Goofy?  Because I read too many blogs where people are training for Ultras?  LOL.  

I'm sure my nerves will appear just before the race like any other race....in the meantime, every time I see the Rock N Roll posts on Facebook about "only 8 days left" and stuff....I think to myself - really?  Shouldn't I be nervous about making my time goals or something?  I admit, the lack of obsession about next week's half marathon does make me feel kind of cool.

I'm sure I'll get a nice rude awakening next weekend!  LOL!

In other news, my story will be featured in Laura's Purposeful Running series this week on her blog Mommy, Run Fast.  I love her site and felt pretty awesome when she asked me to write it!  Stop by and check it out!

Have you ever experienced not-tapering taper madness?  How many days off did it take to set in?  I'm thinking that two might be extreme.

Have you ever not felt that nervous about a big race a week out?

Would you run a few easy miles before or after a race to round out the 18 - or let racing the half be enough?