Words can't even begin to describe the experience that was this past weekend in Fontana, Wisconsin with over a dozen of my closest running/blogger friends:
Instead of trying to describe the festivities in words, I'll just share pictures and themes (reminiscent of a project from one of my high school English classes where we had to visually depict a story).
THEME 1: FOOD
There was food. A LOT of food.
Yummy yummy!
"How far can a runner run into the woods?"
"Halfway. Beyond halfway, a runner would be running out of the woods."
We all own stock in bagel-manufacturing companies.
No explanation needed.
Yummy yummy!
Disclaimer: Between all of us runners, I estimate that we ran a collective total of about 3.1415 MILLION miles at the ZOOMA race on Saturday morning!
Oh wait, everyone ran except the lone race volunteer (that would be me). But I gallantly proclaim that race volunteering and cheering takes a lot of energy! (More about my volunteer experience coming soon.)
In short, we all EARNED the mass quantities of food that we had on hand. No questions asked.
THEME #2: FUN AND GAMES
These ladies are all awesome and were a huge blast to hang out with.
Believe it or not, we did not spend the whole time talking about running, either. Although there were certainly plenty of references to things that only those close to running would understand, such as simply "Mile 22."
Post-race lunch
Playing "Loaded Questions"
It looks a lot more tame than it really was.
Playing Taboo.
Concentrate, concentrate!!!
I just Tweeted!!!
THEME #3: PICTURES
We were in a safe environment, so we could let our guard down in front of our castle fortress. Literally and figuratively.
Before
After
Ever after
(It took us about 10 tries to get this picture to work.)
Disclaimer: Surely I jest. The castle in the above pictures was actually just an entrance to the neighborhood that we stayed in. I'm not sure of the castle's historical significance, if any, but it made for some fun pictures.
And never mind that we had to move out of the street every few minutes to allow passing cars to go through the castle entrance. I'm sure everyone thought we were wreaking mischievous havoc. (It's a good thing that we were only there for the weekend.)
In front of the house.
The big character in the middle in all brown was a great photo model - not a single muscle movement or even a blink while we were taking this picture!
The famous picture of the Beatles shows them walking across Abbey Road.
The weekend group did the ZOOMA Race at the Abbey Resort.
Here, we're just walking. (Some with more swagger than others.)
BONUS THEME: The indescribable
Obligatory pillow fights
Kim deflating an air mattress
To be honest, I'm not even sure what this was myself since I wasn't there when it happened.
But anytime you get a blurry action photo you know something good was going on.
In summary, what a great weekend! It would have been fun for me to actually run the race with everyone else, but for the sake of my injuries it turned out to be a good thing I didn't run. I so wish that I had not been battling sleep deprivation, work commitments, and a cold while I was there, too. But all in all, it was so much fun to hang out with amazing friends and to meet so many incredible new friends. I can't wait for our next running/blogger getaway!
Coming soon to my blog near you: A recap of my experience volunteering at the ZOOMA Great Lakes race.
It's been another ridiculously busy week for me. Workdays ranging from 12-14 hours, back-to-back-to-back meetings and deadlines, early-morning PT appointments, catching up with out-of-town visitors. I am STILL trying to fend off a stuffy nose and cough, too. I said a week ago that I thought that I would be 100% in a couple of days, but my recovery has been painfully, frustratingly slow (and I don't think the stress of work has helped).
I still have not done any running since the Chicago Marathon. Not a running step for almost two weeks (unless you count when I had to sprint for half a block to catch a bus that was about to pull away). There was a period of a few days last week when I was getting the urge to run again, but that has now dissipated in its entirety.
For now, I am just content to enjoy the beauty of autumn without my running shoes.
A lot of folks have asked me if I have the post-marathon blues. My honest answer is that I don't. I do not miss the rigorous training schedule or the enormous amount of time involved with stretching, doing physical therapy exercises, foam rolling, etc., etc. I still do want to run more marathons in the future, for sure, and I'm already thinking about running Chicago again next year. But for right now I am really, really enjoying the mental and physical break from running that these last two weeks have afforded. It's a little addicting to NOT run, actually. Bad, I know.
Moving on from the post-marathon talk! The next 36 hours are going to be quite the whirlwind for me. For any Food Network fans out there, Iron Chef Jose Garces is hosting a cookbook launch party tonight at Kendall College (he is an alum). He'll be doing a meet-and-greet, serving appetizers and drinks from his new cookbook, and then doing a cooking demonstration (hopefully with some samples for the audience!) Adam and I have tickets to attend and I can't wait.
Iron Chef Jose Garces
It'll be very cool to meet Jose Garces in person. I have all kinds of burning questions to ask him about being an Iron Chef (e.g. Do you REALLY find out about each show's secret ingredient completely on the fly? Is Alton Brown really as much of a walking food encyclopedia in person as he is on TV? Does the Chairman really make wind-whipping noises when he turns his head?)
Immediately after the conclusion of Chef Garces's event, I am heading up to the Lake Geneva area. As I'd mentioned here, a big group of the Chicago Running Bloggers have rented a house for the weekend for the ZOOMA Great Lakes Half Marathon.
In lieu of running the race, I decided to volunteer. This will be my maiden voyage as a race volunteer and I have been asked to be a course marshall. It should be fun since I'll get the chance to cheer everyone on as I'm marshalling. Although, unfortunately my excitement about the festivities has been dampened by my lingering cold and crazy-busy workweek.
Additionally, I am frustrated because as I type this, the race organizers still have not provided us any information on when or where I should report tomorrow morning. I don't know yet where I'm supposed to park, how I'm going to get to whatever point I'm assigned on the course, how much time to allow myself, or anything. I've followed up with the organizers twice now. Both times have been told that they would provide more information soon. But we are less than 18 hours away from the start of the race now, so this is not cool. It's really not my style to dishonor a commitment. But given everything that has been transpiring this week, I have to admit that I'm getting more and more tempted to cancel as a volunteer and just go be a spectator. Sigh.
In any event, I am looking forward to a great weekend hanging out with other inspiring women and enjoying the beauty that Lake Geneva has to offer in the autumn. (And who knows, maybe it'll finally inspire me to lace up my running shoes again in this lifetime?)
After a week of not working out at all, my post-marathon legs are feeling as good as new. I'm actually starting to get the hankering to go running again. I'm still trying to battle the remnants of this stuffy nose and cough, but I do think I'll be ready to try pounding the pavement again in a few days. I'm so excited to go for a run where I don't have to worry about working towards any training goals!
Since I finally had a little bit of extra time on my hands this weekend, I updated my "Races" page to include all of the races that I am considering/planning to do in 2013. I also finally compiled all of my race recaps from 2012. Please let me know if you have any thoughts on any of the races I am contemplating, or if there are any races in particular that are not listed but that I SHOULD be contemplating.
Until then! In my second post inspired by the gorgeous Irina, I took this Runner's Quiz that has been floating around in the blog world.
1. FUEL: Shot Bloks, GU, Energy Chews, Candy or Other?
GU all the way. My favorite flavors are the Mandarin Orange and Mint Chocolate, although I've liked every one of their flavors I've tried. The only flavors I have NOT tried are the Just Plain, Espresso Love, and Peanut Butter.
Out of the choiceslisted here, I'd say the half marathon. But I think this is my true favorite:
10-Milers are long enough that they requires some training and endurance, but not so long that you fear bonking... and also short enough that you can run at a brisk pace the entire team, but not so short that you run fast enough to fear vomiting. It's a delicate, delicate balancing act.
3. Workout Bottoms: Skirts, Running Shorts, Capris, Pants or Other?
Pants, definitely. I have major issue with running shorts creeping up on me, necessitating the use for major quantities of BodyGlide. Capris are okay, but there is a pretty limited temperature range in which I'll wear them. So running tights are my favorite, for sure.
Notice I said running tights. NOT "yellow Zentai suit (full-body) that is two sizes too small."
I've actually never tried a running skirt. Although, I did buy my very first running skirt at the Chicago Marathon Expo. I got it from the National Running Center (Frank Shorter's brand). I am very excited to try it out. But unless the weather is abnormally warm the next few weekends, I probably won't get to give the running skirt a real road test until next spring.
4. Sports Drink: Gatorade, Powerade, Cytomax, you stick to water when you run or Other?
In training, I only drink water during my runs. However, I will mix up some powdered Gatorade afterwards. I do also occasionally indulge myself in coconut water after long runs (ZICO is my favorite brand so far). However, coconut water is pretty expensive so I try not to go overboard with it.
Plane ticket to tropical destination not included.
5. Heat or Cold?
Without question, cold. When you are running in cold you can always bundle yourself up more and then take layers off as you warm up. But when you are running in heat, there gets to be a point where there's only so much you can do to keep yourself comfortable. We had such a brutal summer in Chicago this year that for the first time ever, I could not wait for autumn to arrive! In general, though, temps in the 40s or 50s are what I consider to be perfect running weather.
Over the past year, I've experimented with Nike, Asics, Brooks, Mizunos, and Sauconys, trying to figure out what works for me the best. At this point, I'd say Asics are my favorite. I am on my second pair of the Gel Cumulus 13s. I wore them during the Chicago Marathon and during my longest training runs, and they have been incredibly solid and dependable for me.
My workhorse shoes.
Aside from the Asics, though, I do also love my Saucony ProGrid Kinvaras for a more minimalist shoe.
7. Pre-race meal: Oatmeal, Bagel, Banana, Eggs, Cereal or Other?
Cereal, a banana, and a big glass of diluted orange juice. Although, I'd like to start experimenting with eating a little more protein before running. Sometimes I get hungry during long runs, and the cereal/banana seems like it's not enough to hold me over for very long.
8. Rest Days: 1x per week, 2x per week, never ever ever or Other?
I strongly believe in rest days. I usually run only three or sometimes four days a week, and on other days I try to do yoga and cross-train. But I always take at least one planned rest day a week, and sometimes I'll take a second unplanned rest day due to work commitments, etc.
9. Music: Have to have it or go without it?
Up until very recently, I had to run with music because I thought it would be too boring without it. But then I heard that music could be used as a training boost, and decided to try it. I worked to get myself acclimated to running without music, which took some time. But now I actually enjoy running without music. Now I use music just when I need some inspiration or a little jump to get or keep myself going. 10. #1 reason for running: stress-relief, endorphins, you love
to race, so you can eat all the cupcakes you want, weight-loss, love
running for social reasons or Other?
But first and foremost because it makes me feel good. Or at least because it makes me feel better. (I actually wrote an entire post several months ago devoted to this very topic. Check it out here.)
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I would love to hear all of your own responses to this Runner's Quiz! Please do share either in the comments or in your own blog!
Post-marathon recovery continues in full force. I very, very rarely get sick, and this week I've been battling the worst cold that I've had in recent memory. Lesson learned that marathoning wreaks havoc on your immune system. Wah, wah, wah.
That being said, the gorgeous Irina nominated me for the Sunshine Award last week! Many thanks, Irina - your timing is spot on as I really do need some sunshine right now while battling this cold!!!
Rules:
If you are nominated you must include the link in a blog, linking to the person/blog that nominated you
You must answer some questions and nominate 7 fellow bloggers and link their blogs in your post
Let the people you have nominated know that you have nominated them!
1. Who is your favorite philosopher?
After much consideration and in a nod to my Chinese heritage, I would say Confucius. One of my many favorite quotes from him is, "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." I truly believe that character and strength are not defined by success - they are defined by how you respond to adversity.
2. What is your favorite number?
Number 3. There are so many things in life that come in threes:
Three blind mice Three wise men Rock, paper, scissors Three musketeers Three ring circus Three laws of motion The good, the bad, the ugly On your mark, get set, go Three strikes and you're out Three hockey goals for a hat trick Three stooges Third time's the charm Three-dimensional Gold, silver, and bronze
I could keep going but you get the idea.
3. What is your favorite animal? It's so hard to pick just one. But I'd say dolphins because they are so intelligent and social, and they always seem to be having fun!
Honorary mention goes to penguins and cats.
4. What are your Facebook and Twitter? Here is my Facebook page, and my Twitter handle is Emmers712. I am very hot and cold when it comes to tweeting - I go through spurts where I will tweet a lot and then other spurts (including now) where the only thing I tweet are links to my blog posts! I should work on being a better Tweeter.
5. What is your favorite time of day?
On weekends, I love the early morning when the whole day is ahead of me to do things I enjoy.
On weekdays, I love the evenings after getting home from work, when I have the rest of the night to do things I enjoy.
Notice a pattern here? =)
6. What was your favorite vacation?
The best vacation I ever took was a solo trip to Bali, Indonesia. It is truly a magical place.
Traveling by myself in Bali, I took some travel risks that resulted in incredible experiences and memories. Being of Asian descent, I was mistaken for a local many times and I took full advantage of it. I haggled at the local markets. I took surfing lessons and learned first-hand how unbelievably powerful the ocean is. I visited artist studios and watched artistry in motion. There was so much opportunity to get to know the locals and their customs and traditions.
I made some wonderful friends in Bali that I am still in touch with to this day. I very much want to go back and see them someday!
7. What is your favorite physical activity?
It goes without saying that I love running. I also really love inline skating and ice skating, especially on beautiful days or nights. Snorkeling is very high on the list, too (and I have been saying for years that I want to get scuba-certified).
8. What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink?
ORANGE JUICE. It's my cure-all for everything! Since I find it too sweet straight from the carton, I drink it diluted with water.
If any orange juice manufacturers out there are looking for someone to endorse their product, please give me a call!!! I will be the best spokesperson you could ever ask for!!!!!
9. What is your favorite flower?
Orchids. Love love love them. They remind me of some of my favorite travel destinations, including Thailand and Hawaii.
10. What is your passion?
Creativity. I believe that creativity cannot be taught, and that it has to come from within. To me, true creativity is a form of genius.
It still hasn't fully sunken in that I finished my first marathon yesterday! I have so many thoughts and sentiments about this experience, many of which are still coming to the surface.
Wow. Just wow.
THE DAY BEFORE THE RACE Adam and I met up for a carb-loading lunch with an amazing crowd of folks:
I had a blast talking about running with other marathoners who were as focused on the race as I was. It was awesome getting to finally meet the amazing Xaarlin in person, among others!
The rest of the day was spent laying out my gear, stretching, foam-rolling, hydrating, and trying to relax and prepare myself mentally. I was in bed by 9:15 PM.
RACE MORNING
I had my alarm set for 5:40 AM but I woke up around 5:15 and couldn't fall back asleep. I finally just got up and got dressed. I was a bundle of nerves and I had no appetite for any food, but forced myself to eat a bowl of cereal and a hard-boiled egg for breakfast.
Adam had very graciously offered to drop me off at a CTA green line stop so I didn't have to walk. I was midway up the escalator to the platform before I realized I was missing one of my knee straps. I immediately tried to run back down the escalator (which, incidentally, is much harder to do than it looks). Thankfully I was the only person there, otherwise mass hysteria would have ensued.
I was lucky I didn't trip and fall and break my skull while running down the up escalator.
Adam was already pulling away from the intersection. I sprinted down the street and tried unsuccessfully to catch his attention. My running life started flashing before my eyes that I'd have to do the marathon with only one knee strap. But then I called Adam's cell phone and very thankfully he answered. Two minutes later, he was back with my other knee strap. Crisis averted!
I was planning to meet up with Xaarlin and Luiz pre-race at the Bank of America hospitality tent. I took the walkway closest to where the tent was located, only to be turned away by gruff security. They directed me to go several blocks south and then come back through another gate. But when I got to the other gate, I was once again turned away because I wasn't in a starting corral corresponding to that gate. I tried to figure out a way to sneak through, but security was militant.
"NO entry for you."
Xaarlin and I exchanged a couple of texts and barely-audible phone calls. Finally I gave up and went to my own corral. Complete chaos all around. I was hoping this was the last of any issues that I'd have for the day.
I wasn't expecting to be at my own corral so early, but I spent a really long time waiting in line for the portapotties so it worked out. The temperature was in the upper 30s and I was cold. I tried to stretch and I chatted with some of the other runners in my corral. Suddenly, we started moving. There were already dozens of spectators trying to climb the fence to get a glimpse of us. Lots of runners, myself included, began throwing their extra sweatshirts and blankets onto the curb. All of a sudden, I saw Ginger Foxx, who was walking literally right next to me. In a race of 45,000 participants, what are the odds! It was great to chat with her for a little bit.
Before we knew it, we were at the starting line and off we went.
THE RACE
I had been warned so many times not to go out too fast at the start. Since I was still nervously nursing my groin injury, it wasn't too difficult for me to withstand the crowds flying past me. Quite the opposite, in fact. I was unpleasantly surprised at how slow my splits were for the first few miles. I thought I was going much faster than I was. But I kept reminding myself that I had 26.2 miles to cover today, and it was important to preserve my energy early on.
For the first few miles, the crowds were actually thinner than I had been anticipating. But once we started getting into the heart of downtown, it felt very reminiscent of the Rock N Roll Chicago Half Marathon. RnR Chicago's course starts out exactly the same as the Chicago Marathon course and draws large crowds also. The familiarity helped me start to relax a little bit.
I focused on running the tangents of the course, reading all the spectator signs, trying to high-five people, trying to observe the neighborhoods I was passing, trying to take in the familiarity of my city's streets and people. I saw Adam at about mile 3.5 and gave him my hat and gloves, as it was starting to warm up. Around mile 4.5, some of the spectators were blasting the theme music from Rocky.
Hearing this made me smile. It was at that moment that I finally started to really, truly enjoy myself. It was a mental turning point for me.
The crowd was amazing. In particular, I really enjoyed the many signs I read that said things like this:
It made me so grateful for the unbridled crowd support towards everyone's single, united goal of completing the marathon.
The miles went by quickly. Someone was blasting the Chicago Bears and Chicago Bulls theme songs and that pumped me up. I thoroughly enjoyed the cheerleaders and crowd support in the Boystown neighborhood.
Unfortunately, I was feeling almost from the start like I needed to make a bathroom stop. I kept seeing that every aid station's portapotties had huge lines, and I didn't want to wait. I knew that I wouldn't be able to run the entire marathon without making a stop. But I figured that maybe once the runners started spreading out more that the lines would decrease.
The dreaded groin pain started coming. It was minimal at first, but gradually started getting stronger and stronger. I took walking breaks to alleviate the aching. By about mile 8 I knew that my hope of running a sub-5:00 marathon would not be in the books for the day. At that point, I changed the day's focus to just get to the finish line in one piece without having to do too much walking. More immediately, I knew that I was going to see Adam again at about mile 9.5. I wanted to be running when I saw him instead of walking, which I was successful in doing.
I was still waiting to see portapotties without massive lines, and near mile 12 I finally did. While I was in line, I tried to stretch my adductors and I was so stiff and sore that I nearly lost my balance. Wow, did it hurt.
After the portapotty stop, I went back on my way, though still hurting, and rumbled on while trying to continue enjoying the experience. I was very thankful that I knew most of the course very well so I knew what to expect.
The course passed just a few blocks south of my home building, through the streets of my neighborhood where I've run countless times. During the marathon it was so packed with spectators that it was barely recognizable. Runners all around me were starting to slow down and a lot of people were walking, so I started weaving a little bit.
I saw Adam again at about miles 13.5 and 16.5. He asked me if I was doing okay. I was hurting but I told him that I was okay, more for myself than for him. I told myself that I had less than 10 miles to go, and surprisingly it didn't scare me.
As I approached mile 18, I started looking around frantically for Erin, who I knew was working the mile 18 aid station. After not seeing any other friends at the points that they indicated they were stationed along the course, it was such a welcome surprise when I did see her. She jumped in and ran with me for a minute or so and asked how I was doing. Almost before she finished asking, I blurted out, "My groin hurts." It was the first time that I'd verbally acknowledged the pain. But she told me that I looked strong and that made me feel a little better.
Mile 19, through the Pilsen neighborhood (a traditionally Mexican neighborhood), was incredible. There was so much crowd support and so many people offering us fruit and candy and drinks. A lot of people were waving Mexican flags and they were cheering especially loudly for any Mexican runners.
Then, as I approached mile 20, I kept thinking about all the comments of the 20-mile marker being the proverbial halfway point in the marathon, the last 6.2 miles being a death march, and that there was a reason that Hal Higdon's training program doesn't go above 20 miles. I also started thinking that I only had 10K to go, which was just two loops around a 5K route that I do in training. I was still taking walk breaks to try to relieve my groin pain, but it began to hurt more to walk than it did to run. Plus, when I did walk it was getting tougher and tougher to resume running afterwards. At that point I tried to minimalize my walking as much as possible.
I saw Adam at mile 22 and felt better. The course was moving through Chinatown and also through the adjacent neighborhoods, including the neighborhood in which I used to live, prior to where I now live. Once again the familiarity was nice. I had two coworkers who had said they'd be near mile 24. As I approached I was wanting to take a walk break, but I didn't want them to see me walking. So I forced myself to keep running. As it turned out, I didn't see either of them. As soon as I was far enough away to be certain that I wasn't going to see them, I dropped down to a walk.
(This also reminded me of one of the emcees at the start of the race, who had jovially announced to us, "Remember, everyone. It doesn't matter how long it takes you to run the marathon. What matters is how good you look doing it!")
The last two miles were pretty blurry. The final stretch of the course includes a straight shot from 35th Street to Roosevelt Road (12th Street), and having once lived at 31st Street I knew the roads very well. I knew that I would see Adam again around 14th Street and I kept trying to challenge myself to go as long as possible without walking. It was around there that he took this picture of me. I look much more energetic than I was feeling at the time (it's a good thing that pictures only require a moment to take).
The guy in the grey shirt to the right of me looks like he is pumping his fist for me.
Pure coincidence.
Up the hill at Roosevelt and around the corner, and there was the finish line. Wow. All along I thought that I would start crying as soon as I saw the finish line. But I actually smiled for my finish line picture. It wasn't until I got my space blanket and medal that I started crying, to the point where some of the volunteers asked if I was okay. Even though I was in so much pain, I smiled through my tears and told them that I was doing great.
Beyond finishing my first marathon, I also look happy here because this was the first time I got to sit down afterwards!
POST-RACE REACTION
My official time was 5:27:33, which was much, much slower than I had hoped. But given how much I was hurting for most of the race, I am simply happy to have finished.
I am already looking forward to running the marathon again when I'm not battling injury. Or at least when I'm battling less-prevalent injury. (Is it bad to already be contemplating a "revenge" marathon within just a few hours of crossing the finish line of your first marathon?!?)
I am also more thankful than ever for the incredible crowd support at the Chicago Marathon, which made much more of a difference than I had ever imagined possible. A heartfelt thank you, once again, to everyone that has supported me during this journey to complete my first marathon. And very, very, VERY special thanks go out to Adam for transporting me in the early morning, then strategically following me all over the city for half of the day (and also for dealing with my raging sobs of pain immediately after the race).
For years, and even as recently as a few weeks ago, I thought that running 26.2 miles was insurmountable. Yet, despite the injuries, there was never a point during the marathon yesterday where I thought that I couldn't finish it. I had been warned about thinking too much too early about the miles ahead of you during the race. But even when I did, it truly never fazed me. I am realizing now, more than ever, that THAT - the mental capacity for running very long distances - is truly what marathon training is all about.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Through this point, the overview of my blog has been "My journey to become a marathoner." Completing a marathon, particularly the Chicago Marathon, has been a goal of mine for well over a decade. So it wasn't until very recently that I started allowing myself to contemplate what my new blog overview would be after actually completing the journey.
Now that I have achieved this goal, I still don't know for sure what the new blog overview will be. But it sure will be fun to figure it out. =)
