The Hardest Thing I’ve Ever Done

Is over!

I finished the Thunder Road Marathon with a time of 5:34 or thereabouts. I have not checked to see if the official times are posted yet, but I am happy. Sure I was aiming for faster, but I think the fact that I was sick all this week combined the with the 30 degree temperatures this morning makes 5:30 + change pretty good.

At least I didn’t get picked up by the white van! Although, I must admit SO MANY times I was tempted.

This morning it was so dark when we arrived at the Convention Center downtown.

[Excuse the graininess that is my point and shoot!]

Earlier this week I found out that my friend Anna was running the half, so we rode together to the race.

I was so happy to have a friend to rock my marathon tee with! We got these cool technical tees that we both ended up wearing the whole time. Love.

We started out ok, probably about 2-3 minutes past the gun time. My first two miles were slower than I wanted, but still in the 10 minute range. My first mistake was when I stopped for a bathroom break at the 3 mile mark. I lost a good chunk of time waiting for a port a potty, and in retrospect I should have waited.

Anyway, when I hit the half marathon mark it registered 2:35. I was rather disappointed at that time, because that is the slowest half time I have ever ran. I knew then that my dreams of a 4:30 time were out the window, and I just focused on finishing. I walked through the next water break and took some sport beans.

I am not going to lie. It was hard. And every single body part I own ached the entire time.

Miles 16-20 I was totally focusing on my music and playing mental games with myself to keep my mind off how much pain I was in. At 16 I took a shot of Gu and again at 20. I think all in all, I took the 2 shots of Gu and 1.5 packs of sports beans. I was fueling whenever I felt I needed it, and I never felt that I didn’t fuel enough.

I hit the 20 mile mark in 4 hours, which at the time I still thought maybe I had a shot of finishing around 5 hours.

Um, those last six miles were the hardest miles I have ever ran. Between 22 and 23 I made myself run the whole mile without stopping. I then realized that it was easier to run as much as I could with little to no walking breaks to the finish.

Once I saw mile 24 I knew the end was coming soon, and mile 25 was even more exciting. At about 25.5 I rounded a corner and saw my parents and Cecily. I broke into a full out run, waving my arms and screaming. I was so excited, and tears just filled my eyes. I was SO CLOSE and so happy to see my family.

I turned another corner and saw my other sisters and started crying again. It was all so emotional! I am not a huge crier, but I had been on the verge of tears for the last 14 miles, so that was all it took.

Meredith, Sabrina [and Izzle! sorry no pic of him] ran the last half mile with me [across the finish line!] cheering me the whole way. Linden followed behind snapping pictures.

When we were in sight of the finish line I heard the announcer say: Here comes a whole pack of them! I just ran my little heart out and SPRINTED across that finish line.

Kath + Matt were at the end [with huge chunks of Great Harvest bread!]

[Excuse the pasty face and my eyes darting in the wrong direction. I was trying to look at two cameras at once!]

Me, mom, dad and Cecily + my huge chunk of bread.

It was truly the best thing I have ever done in my life. Will I do it again? Well…that is yet to be determined. I say never say never. We shall see.

At least for the next year, I am planning to stick with shorter distances and improve my speed. 2011? Who knows?

I just know I am proud of every single one of my race medals.

And I wouldn’t object to adding to the collection.

😉

PS: Congrats to Sarah and Emily who completed their marathons in 3:48 and 4:45ish respectively!

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Tight Pants

Last night I took my Nyquil a little earlier than usual, so I apologize for the lack of a post.

I’ve just been a little busy biting my fingernails in anticipation of the big day.

And eating.

Raisin Bran. I don’t care what you say Janetha! Raisin Bran is heavenly.

I had it yesterday and today, in fact.

In fact I had the same lunch today and yesterday as well.

Soup and crackers.

I could live off soup and crackers.

Also, this is dangerous.

Oh my.

Chocolate covered pretzels.

Oh dear.

And lookie here!

Snowballs and chocolate mounds!

This is dangerous…

Very dangerous.

Or at least it was until I took care of it.

Because I have a marathon to run tomorrow. And I’d much rather eat a tin of cookies than think about that.

Why are my pants suddenly feeling so tight?

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Fighting the Monster

The germ monsters have been trying to get me down all weekend!

A motley crew they are. I’m not having it! Don’t they know I have a marathon to run Saturday?!?!

As luck would have it, they attacked Friday, and I tried valiantly to fend them off. Saturday was rainy and cold, so I let them have their way as I did not really want to brave the elements anyway. I just stayed inside where it was warm.

Oh and I went to Wal-Mart.

Somewhere along the way, I ate a lot of cereal. Or at least took pictures of a lot of cereal. 😉

Tropical Oatmeal

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Raisin Bran

Also a lot of soup.

Mama D. made some

It was yum.

And then she made some pot pie with the leftovers.

More yum.

At some point we decorated for the holidays.

Charlie Brown tree, one stocking and fake snow.

Don’t believe we’re quite done yet.

Breakfast today was a duplicate of Example III in Cereal. Raisin Bran. I see no reason to repeat the picture.

Lunch was cheap and quick.

And I am not ashamed.

I had quite possibly the stuffiest head and sorest eyeballs I’ve ever had. Dunkin Donuts and Chik-Fil-A was needed.

After work I knew a run was what I needed. I did a brisk sprint workout under the lights of the neighborhood park. It was cold and my nose was running, all the more reason to make it quick.

Came home to more soup.

Bean + pasta + veggie soup.

And some salad + fruit.

Fantastic.

I want 10 more bowls of it, if I can have slice of that bread with every one. That might be the best thing I have inhaled extra of with out photographic proof in a long time.

Must go, the Nyquil bottle is calling my name.

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My Running Story – Maya American Gourmande

Today’s post is brought to you by Maya from American Gourmande! Maya is working as a nanny in Hawaii. I love reading about her adventures while there, but also about her marathon training. Maya is training for a marathon, just as I am; and last week ran her 20 miler. Take it away Maya!

****

Hello Whit’s Getting Fit readers! I’m Maya, and I have a little foodie and running blog, American Gourmande.

When Whitney asked for guest bloggers, I knew I wanted to contribute. Like Whitney, I am training for my first marathon. On December 13, I will embark the 26.2 mile journey to the finish line of the Honolulu Marathon.

If you told me last year that I would be running 40 miles a week, and enjoy it, I would have laughed. Running was a chore. Exercise. A way to burn a few hundred calories, sweat, and then move on with my day. Even as a cross country runner, running was torturous.

It wasn’t until I studied abroad in French speaking Belgium that I gained an appreciation for running. In Belgium it seemed that people didn’t believe in gyms or exercising. Even on a beautiful day, there were very few joggers in the park.

After about a month of no exercise, I craved movement. I needed the endorphins to lift my spirits. My aerobic options were limited, so I laced up my sneakers and headed out the door.

I didn’t know my pace, or how many miles I ran. But as the seasons changed, I ran at least 3 or 4 times a week. I did it mainly to stay sane. Running became therapeutic. It was time to myself to think about recent events, sort through problems, and reflect. Bonus: it’s a natural mood booster and running helped me survive Belgium’s coldest winter in years.

When I returned to the United States, I had already cultivated a love for running. My peak mileage at the time was six miles. Even this past summer, running a half marathon seemed like a major goal, one in which I would need many months to train.

I moved to Hawaii in early September and joined local running clubs for group runs. Many members were training for the Honolulu marathon, and slowly the idea grew on me. It seemed like the perfect challenge and a souvenir of my time in Hawaii.

Only three months ago, a 7 mile run seemed long. A half marathon felt like a lofty goal. Now I run 13 miles or more on an ordinary long run training day. I average 35-40 miles a week, and completed my longest training run last weekend of 20 miles.

This all seems very difficult to many, and I completely understand, as fairly recently I felt the same. However, I’ve found that the biggest obstacle in marathon training is mental. Of course, marathon training requires a base line of fitness. You can’t jump off the couch one day and expect to run 10+ miles the next. But if you are capable of six mile runs, I am fairly confident that with proper training and care, you can conquer 26.2 miles.

Just because you are capable of marathon training doesn’t mean that you should want to. DEFINITELY do not should feel pressure to. If you want to train a marathon, do so for yourself and no one else. And please, don’t do it for weight loss. Do it because you love running and want to see how far it goes.

And if running ain’t your thang, there are plenty of other physical challenges you can pursue. Like doing 50 consecutive push-ups, biking 100 miles, doing a head stand or back bend in yoga.

During my 20 mile run last Sunday I started to hit a wall by mile 15. I could only overcome that wall mentally. I imagined my Garmin reading 20 miles and willed my legs to move. At the end of the day, all these physical challenges demand a lot of your body. But they also require 110% of you mentally. You need to believe in yourself fully to make your physical challenge possible.

Most importantly, whatever physical challenge you decide to undertake, make sure you love it! And good luck!

The smile on my face is 100% genuine. This is during a long run after taking a week off from running to prevent injury. I was so happy to be hitting the pavement again!

****

Thank you so much for sharing your story Maya! One question: Where did you find that cute running outfit?

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I just wanna dance…

I did it!

Today I ran 20 miles, and it felt SO AWESOME!

10 + 10 = 20! [PS: Don’t you like my free Elevation tee?]

I was up at 5:30 and fixed a banana w/ PB for breakfast.

Glory in a skin.

Then I was off to the Dowd YMCA to meet up with the other ‘marathon preview runners’ for the second half of our Thunder Road preview run. Good news Sarah + Emily! The last half is pretty much flat! It was so awesome!

The first 13 miles I ran today went through uptown, NoDa [!!!] and Midtown, some of my favorite areas of Charlotte. I’m really excited for the second half of the race now!

I lucked up on the last 7 miles. I thought I was going to have to run it alone, but I had my iPod, and I was gearing myself up for it when I got back to the Y. As I was walking to my car for more water a guy said ‘Good job!’ I noticed he was filling up his water bottles, so I inquired as to whether he was running extra. Guess what? HE WAS!

I ran the last 7 miles with David, his wife Katie and their friend Evelyn. Evelyn had a Garmin, so it made it SO EASY. [I really HAVE to invest in one of those!] They ran about the same pace I did, and it was really nice getting to know them. I hope to see them at the marathon! Maybe we can encourage each other in the race too. David was a great motivator! He certainly kept everyone’s spirits up, which I needed, especially in those last two miles.

Thanks guys, for letting me run with you! I really appreciated it! 😀

I came home took an ice bath and fixed up some green power:

Fave cup.

Green goop.

• frozen naner
• MORE PB
• 1 scoop protein powder
• almond milk
• ice
• spinach [green power!]

Now what to do with the rest of my day? Mere is at the track, and she wants me to come watch the boys do their thang, but I just wanna dance.

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Vegan-Fur-A-Day

[Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Rather PETA friendly, no? 😉 ]

I almost forgot about Katy + Michelle’s Vegan-4-A-Day challenge this morning. I was just about to fry up an egg when it popped in my brain.

So pumpkin oatmeal shall have to suffice.

It did.

• 1/2 cup pumpkin [Libby’s!!!]
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 banana
• water
• pumpkin spice
• agave syrup

Licked the bowl in fact.

Lonchi was a little harder.

I reeeeaaaallllly [yes that bad] wanted my leftover tuna salad. But I packed black beans instead. I didn’t really want them cold, so I made a makeshift black bean burger on the spur of the moment.

Messy bowl of Heaven.

• salsa
• black beans
• romaine
• ketchup [it was vegan!]

After scarfing that down I boot scoot n’ boogied over to the barber shop. Ok, not really the barber shop. It’s a legit hair salon where I get my locks trimmed. I ♥ my hairdresser. Seriously, if you are in the area and need a hair stylist, convo me. [Convo me?!?! Regretsy much?] She has been doing my hair for 2+ years now. That’s longer than my longest romantic relationship. She informed me that I had not gotten my hair cut since August 11th! I did a little researching of my own, and guess what? She was right! I guess that’s why I’ve been sporting Medusa-like locks for the past month and a half.

It’s looking much better now!

I’ll have to do something about that camera in my face later. Also we may need to do something about the lighting in our bathroom at work. Fugly, it is.

Handy dandy fact. There is a Starbucks within spittin’ distance of my hair salon. I picked up a peppermint mocha for my coworker and a soy misto for meself. I’m nice like that.

New love.

And I noshed on a pear.

Juicy.

After work I ran to the gym and ran on the treadmill. 6.2 sweaty miles later, I was done! True fact: My feet have been hurting me pretty badly since my long run Saturday, but I didn’t want to complain about it on here. I figured with me being sick that was enough complaining from the peanut gallery. Anyway, I was a bit worried about it, perhaps overly so. Good thing for me, my run today was lovely. It felt like a little massage on my feet the whole time. LOVE.

I was struck with a dilemma for dinner.

What was quick + vegan? And then I saw the shiny lights of Chipotle!

[Insert generic picture of Chipotle sign here]

Vegetarian Burrito Bowl, you shall be mine!

• rice
• black beans [twice today!]
• corn salsa
• regular salsa
• guacamole
• lettuce

History. I tucked that away in about 5 seconds.

So there you have it ladies + gents! My vegan eats for the day, plus the added bonus of my new haircut.

And that’s a wrap!

[Disclaimer: I am not, nor do I plan to become a vegan in the near future. This was just for fun!]

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18’s a winner!

Hey, hey!

I went to bed at 9:30 last night. I know, I’m such a wild child.

I went to bed at 9:30 so that I could be up at 5:30 this morning to meet up with my marathon preview run group.

Before I left, I had an English muffin slathered with PB&J.

Early morning light + paper plate. Can’t get much more lovely than that.

When I got to the Y I was surprised to see around 300 people had shown up for the run! It was like a mini race! Renegade, of course, since no streets were blocked off. It was the most fun training run I have had yet. The huge group of us were just tearing down the streets of Charlotte. We had one guy ask what race we were doing that no one closed the streets. 😀 I felt like a daredevil.

The preview run was only 13.1 miles though, so the wonderful Stacy had agreed to meet me back at the Y for another 5 miles afterward. Thanks Stacy! I couldn’t have done it without you! I felt rather badly, because Stacy had fresh legs, and I was at the ‘shuffle’ stage by the time we met up. She was a good sport though, and as always a great running partner!

Afterward we treated ourselves to Starbucks!

coffee cake + nonfat eggnog latte!

And I may or may not have made a pit stop at Ulta to use my 20% coupon on the eye shadow I have been lusting over.

Also I stopped at a gas station where I picked up a banana…

+ 20 lbs of ice!

ICE BATH!

I ♥ ice baths now…only because I have little to no soreness after the fact.

The trick to a good ice bath is to have plenty of reading material + at least 2 hoodies on. I looked like the Unabomber going into that thing!

I did love running with the preview run group though, and I can’t wait to do it again next week…the big 2.0!

I mean look:

Homegirl’s got some dank hangnails and scraped polish.

They even marked my hand like I was going to a club or something. And who doesn’t love going to the club?

Or a concert? I’m going to a concert tonight. Suppose I should do something about that hand situation. ^^^

Oh, and before I forget and go off about my nasty hands anymore. I should announce the giveaway winner, right?!?!?!

Right.

Number accounts for tweet mentions that did not comment as well.

Per Random.org, that would be #114, Jacqueline!

Jacqueline says:

The Dragonfly Saucer! It’s too cute!
Thanks Whit!

Well Jacqueline, send me your address and I’ll get that dragonfly saucer sent over to you!

Everyone else, I would love for you to have won as well. 😦 Have a great Saturday though, and do something fun!

Like going to a concert…

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Word.

So  last night was PARTY –> PARTY –> PARTY.

Mere and I party hopped for a little while which = late bedtime.

Needless to say I slept in until 10 this morning which meant I missed breakfast + my regular church service. 😦

We decided to go visit Elevation Church since they have services all morning.

It was glorious + I got a free t-shirt for being a first time visitor! This might be the first time I have ever gotten two free t-shirts in one weekend. 😀

After church we went to the grandmothers for a lovely meal + family time.

Jambalaya, apples, macaroni, sweet potatoes, bread, salad.

CAKE!

 

Puzzle time!

And then I met my Stacey for a lovely 5 mile run.

Word from ya motha: Do not eat cake before you run 5 miles. You will regret it. 😉

Gotta go, Mere and I are meeting Izzle + J. Bizzle for some fun times, since we overslept this morning, so therefore missed out on hang time.

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Lucky Race Outfit

2:10:50!

I ran my half and not only hit goal time, I now really feel like I’m ready for a marathon. Having a decent time will do that to ya!

I beat my previous half time of 2:15:48 by almost 5 minutes!

I was SO HAPPY with my time, mainly because my long runs lately just haven’t been that great. It helps so much to have the support of a huge crowd and everyone having the same common goal.

I found out that they offer preview runs for my marathon for the next two weeks, so I immediately signed up. They are both just half distances, but having company for at least part of the way on my 18 and 20 milers will make a huge difference!

Excited this morning, I was up at 5:30 am and ready to go!

It was freezing outside! If you call 34 degrees freezing that is. I am aware that most people do not. But those people probably also do not live in Charlotte. 😉

I had a quick breakfast of PB toast + coffee to warm me up.

The race fuel of champions.

And I packed my Sharkies:

Then I was off!

I got to the race site around 6:45, so after I picked up my chip I had about an hour to kill, wherein I occupied myself on facebook and twitter. Thank you guys SO much for your support. I cannot even begin to express how much it means to me. You are all so awesome!

The race started at 7:40, and I was toward the back of the pack, so I lost about a minute or so in start time. Miles 1-6 flew by! Before I knew it, we were crossing the 10k split and I was pacing 9:30 miles the whole way. I honestly felt SO GOOD!

Mile 7 started to wear on me though, and I slowed to a steady 10 minute mile for the next 3 miles or so. Mile 9 was continuously uphill, but I hit the 10 mile mark still holding a steady 10 minute pace, and I could feel myself slowing. That’s when I took the Sharkies, and I swear that’s what powered me through to the end!

The last 3 miles were the longest, mainly because the last water station was at mile 10, so there were no breaks for that last stretch. I kept passing people walking on that part of the course, and I was SO TEMPTED. I kept plugging along though, although my time had probably slowed to an 11 or 12 minute mile.

The last 1/2 mile or so was ALL uphill. Apparently that’s the trend around here though, as you may remember the Komen race I ran was the same way. At that point though, there were other racers that had finished already cheering us on. It was awesome, and gave me the strength I need to push through to the finish line. I was SO HAPPY to see the 2:11 over my head as I went across the line.

I immediately called my parents to let them know I’d just PRed, but I don’t think it was quite as important to them as it was me. 😉

Secondly I headed over to the Expo area for a little refreshment. Great Harvest was there!

I grabbed a slice of Cinnamon Crunch bread w/ honey + an unpictured 1/2 banana and Powerade that I wolfed down.

All in all it was a GREAT RACE complete with a cute little medal…

If you were to ask me would I run this race again, the answer would be a resounding YES! [Who knows, maybe I’ll PR again next year…]

With my lucky race outfit, you never know.

4:30 marathon, I’m coming for you!

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10 things

Continuing in the vein of Facts About Me:

1. I think Banana Oatmeal is the best kind. Especially with a dollop of White Chocolate Wonderful PB.

2. I like pretty bowls. Especially from Target. 😉

3. I actually just like Target. A LOT.

4. I adore leftovers for lunch. Means I can sleep in. *yawn*

5. I like my leftover pizza cold.

6. I only ate 3/4 of what is pictured here.

7. A lot of running planned for me this weekend! Half marathon + a run with Stacey. Love.

8. The thought of running a marathon scares me.

9. The thought of running a marathon in 5 weeks TERRIFIES me.

10. All those fears will be alleviated if I do well in my race tomorrow. *fingers crossed!*

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