The Anti-Running Runner

After running three marathons that went from bad to worse, I thought it must be impossible to enjoy a marathon. I'm overjoyed to be proven wrong. Of course, training and eating right makes a difference. The right shoes make a difference. Some of those things affected my previous marathons, and I finally learned what my body wanted to eat, how it wanted to train, and what shoes were best for me. A lot of prayer has gotten me through each of my marathons, and there is something wonderful about how terrible they were before Jan 19th. It's much easier to say that in hindsight, of course. I had to rely on Jesus, lean on him, draw strength from him in my weakness. It's a great place to grow. From the moment I started distance running in college, I became the Anti-Running Runner. It was this burden that I knew I had to carry if I wanted to get through any of my jogs. There were always things that helped, like running with Alyssa and other family and friends. But it's al...

To pick up where I left off... Around mile 11, I started feeling it. I'm convinced it was full-on 85 degrees at that point, it was so hot. That same feeling I usually get around mile 18 came and I was already struggling. Alyssa promised to stay with me, and we slowed the pace. Jenni went ahead on her own where she experienced those heat stroke symptoms I mentioned in Part I. It felt like a really long two miles to get the halfway mark. In my mind, I kept thinking, We have to do this again. Ugh. And then we were introduced to the sand pit. That's right. A sand pit. Not hard sand, but a half-mile stretch of really loose sand that none could go around. The only answer was through. Shoes sank in, making it almost impossible to run through it. We sort of skip-walked through. At that point, I realized that I was not happy. I was struggling before, and now I was getting angry. Because the website made absolutely no mention of the half-mile long sand pit that we would have to go t...

Completed marathon #3: X-Country Marathon in Alafia River State Park Nov 17, 2013 Started with hubby, Alyssa, Jenni, Hea, Mike, and Zach. The course was two 13.1 laps around the park. Completed half due to injury: Hea Completed half due to no desire to finish this ridiculously unfun trail race, plus didn't care whether he ever finished a marathon in his life: hubby That means we lost two out of seven people in our group alone. There were likely a lot more DNFs at this race. I imagine there are worse marathons. The Sahara Desert Marathon, for example. The hills in places like San Francisco make it difficult to even compare to the X-Country Marathon in Florida. There are inclines, not hills. Therefore, I resisted titling this post Worst Marathon Ever. It was my worst ever, but there are so many factors contributing to why some races are tougher than others. This one was tough, first of all, because it was 85 degrees and humid. Total fluke. No one's fault. It didn...

There are seven Team SPOR Runners doing the X-Country Marathon tomorrow at Alafia River State Park. Hea, Mike, Zach, Alyssa, Jenni, hubby, and me. I'm trying not to think about it because I'm quite nervous. But I know it will be fun, especially with our great group of people. I've been focused on my fiction writing lately, so I haven't been updating on my training, but I'm as trained as I can be. Now I just need to relax and give it to God because it's out of my control. Hea and I did 21 miles together three weeks ago. I've got a blood-blistered toe to prove it. After horrible 16 and 18 milers, I was relieved the 21 went as well as it did. No major issues (didn't feel the toe until it was over). The following Saturday we did 12. Last weekend hubby and I did 8. Oh, tapering. So lovely. This last week I carbed up and today I'm doing my eating regimen that I discovered works best for me on runs longer than a half marathon distance. Every two ho...

Hubby, Hea, Mike, and I are in full swing with marathon training. We also have three other friends who will be running the X-Country Marathon with us in November: Alyssa, Jenni, and Zach. We have a team! So we came up with a team name and shirts. Hea and I before the 14 miler TEAM SPOR RUNNERS because some of us live in SP (St. Pete) and some of us live in OR (Orlando). I know, it looks like we left of the T in SPORT. Or, as one of my forum friends described it, that the E in SPORE is missing and we're a "group of escaped infectious lab test subjects from some fungus-based zombie disease, a la The Last of Us." In my mind, SPOR rhymes with Thor so we can raise our fists and shout, "By the power of SPOR!" Anyway, Friday night Hea, hubby, and I ran 14 miles. We had fun, chatted a lot which helped the time pass, but it wasn't easy. Especially since next Saturday we're scheduled to run 16. The miles just keep going up and up. I still haven...

I visited my family in Yuma, AZ for a week in August. Mom, Dad, and a sister live out there. I happened to fly in the night before Dad's birthday. He turned 62. So naturally, we got up and ran six miles together on his birthday. Fact: I had to work hard to keep up with Dad. He likes to say he was trying to keep up with me, but he's just being nice. I'm so blessed to have a running family. So many people in my fam run (most a lot faster than me). Dad and I are training for marathons. He's doing the Yuma Marathon in January, and I'm doing the X-Country Marathon in November. He's done...I want to say five marathons now. I'm not positive about that, but he did his first marathon in his fifties. For about a year, he had knee problems and took a break from marathons. Now he's back and feeling great. At Gasparilla one year, he ran a 3:55 (yes, a sub 4-hour marathon).  He was ten minutes off the Boston Qualifier. Now that he's over 60, he has...

That's right. I'm doing it again. And hubby is doing his first marathon. What marathon are we signed up for and when? The X-Country Marathon on Nov 17, 2013 This is a trail marathon in beautiful Alafia River State Park (east of Tampa). Same place where we run The Claw Run 10 Miles. We're signed up for that race again at the end of April. Hubby doesn't like road races, but has wanted to run a marathon. When we found out about this trail marathon not too far from us, he said he would be interested in doing it someday. That day is now officially on the calendar. And it's not expensive. Only $55 for early sign-up. Hea and Mike are signed up. Hopefully, Alyssa will be able to join us, too. I once swore that I would never run a marathon. And then Alyssa talked me into Disney 2009 which was the week before my wedding. I don't recommend that, by the way. After the Disney Marathon, I swore that I would never run another ma...