Sunday, November 28, 2010

jump 4 joy!!


outtake from our christmas card photo shoot :)
 this is what i feel like inside :)
finally...the fog has lifted.
i feel like i'm finally back to my normal self after the marathon.
the motivation is back...and i'm ready to go.
been thinking lots about my goals & new challenges (running-wise) i'd like to pursue this next year.
* i need to run another marathon. i want redemption...i know i can do better.
   i've been marathon shopping, and a few have caught my eye.  but my plan is to run CIM next december.

* i want to do some trail runs. pinnacle training systems is putting on a trail series near here, lake hensley. it features both mountain biking and trail running.  i would love to do the 10k trail run....maybe even the duathlon (1mi run, 4mi bike, 1 mi run) 

*i want to race some shorter stuff.  i have yet to run a 5k...must do that. 

* i want to build up my base of miles.  i want to keep my average weekly mileage about 45-50 miles.

* i want to run some half marathons.

* i want to improve my core/leg strength.  that means incorporating more weight/strength training.

so...
i'm planning on doing a trail run...jan 23, feb 6, or feb 20
feb. 19th....local 5k...judicata run
april 23...shinzen run/walk 5 mi race
may 22nd...fresno classic half marathon
june 19th..father's day run 6 mi run
july 4th...fourth of july run 4 mile
sept...smokey bear 10k
nov...two cities half marathon
dec...CIM

that is my plan.
here's to a new year filled with lots of running :)

10.15mi/ 1:42:16/ avgHR 156/ avg pace 10:04
longest run since the marathon. ran with kristina...nice and easy :)

Sunday, November 21, 2010

a little hail and a whole lot of happiness

i've really been getting the urge the last couple days to run long.

its been 2 weeks since the marathon.
and boy, have i missed running.

i love that "urge", that feeling, to run...
its a great feeling...
the anticipation...
i was so excited when i woke up this morning to go run.

planned on going slow.
just enjoying the run.
all 12 miles of it.

set out this morning at 7 with my tunes
within ten minutes it was drizzling.
no big deal.
wore my new rain jacket,
had my gloves & hat on
no problem.
then it was pouring...loved it :)
i was only about 3 miles into my run
huge lightening lit up the sky.
rain...i like
lightening...i don't
turned around and headed home.
a little bummed,
but i was sloshing in the rain
so i could only smile.
the raindrops were huge...
and then they turned into hail
little hail ball were falling all round me.
and i just laughed.

made it back home
and was soaked,
but i was happy :)
not the 12 miles i was hoping for,
but any day i get to run is a good day.


5.41mi/ 52:51/avgHR 164/ avg. pace 9:45

Thursday, November 18, 2010

back on track...hopefully.

i ran today.

actually i ran 6 mi last sunday.
but i think i overdid it...
i came home hobbling...
wasn't sure if it was my shoes,
or if i still wasn't recovered.

but i've been resting since sunday,
and today went for an EASY 3 miles.
it felt pretty good.
so nice to be out running again.

i also followed it up with alot of stretching
and some core/leg work.

i've been lamenting the retirement
of my favorite shoes...
nike pegasus 26's.
after running the marathon
they were about at their top mileage.

i have a pair of the pegasus 27's,
but i'm not too fond of them.
they are not as cushioned as the 26's.
i thought about venturing out
and finding another brand that feels good
but...i'm a creature of habit :)
so i've been scouring the internet
and finally found a pair
in size 10
so i ordered them :)

makes me so happy!!
i will be back running in cushioned bliss next week.






Wednesday, November 10, 2010

post marathon blues.

yep, i've got 'em.

i think its partly because i don't have a training plan or a race picked out to train for,
but also that the marathon didn't turn out how i wanted.
my mind is ready to run, but my body says otherwise.

so, what to do?

i guess i need to figure something out.
i'm still a little sore...mostly in my quads.
but that is finally subsiding a little bit today.
i think i'll be ready for a run by the weekend.
just an easy one.

maybe i should sign up for the turkey trot?
or maybe not...
maybe i'll just run...to run.

Monday, November 08, 2010

two cities race report

picture lisa took @ mile 18


The Good

i finished!
i'm a marathoner!
chip time 4:30:06
gun time 4:30:35
409/741 total
142/299 females
26/56 30-39 age grp
avg. 10:19 pace

splits:
10k 57:34 (9:17)
1/2M 1:07:16 (9:45)
20mile 1:09:44 (10:06)
10K 1:15:29 (12:10)
time back 1:29:46
not sure what time back is??

so i guess if you add
those first two...
then that is my
half marathon time
2:04:50 *new PR



The Bad

Since i got sick on wednesday
i had been downing tons of vitamins, airborne, inhalers,
afrin, sudafed, tylenol & doing nasal rinses.
i was really congested and my breathing was not normal.
i just prayed it would get better by sunday.
had a great night's sleep on friday-9 hours.
dranks tons of water and continued carbo-loading.
sat night...didn't sleep great...took afrin before bed..kept waking up.
sun morning up at 5...got dressed...ate...and debated about taking any meds...
and if i decided to take any...which ones.
i was really worried that any of them would raise my heart rate,
but i was pretty congested and couldn't breath great anyway.
decided to take my inhaler and the afrin.

left the house at 6:10...drove down the street to pick up my neighbor Kristina who was running the half.
not much traffic out...got there pretty fast...parked and walked over to the start.
headed over to the portapotties.
there were so many potties, and no line.

about mile 2

walked around a bit to see if there was anyone i knew
and stretched a little bit.
went potty again...just to be safe.
then got in my corral...
talked with another gal who was also runnning alone until the start.
kept telling myself to go SLOW.
i didn't know how my breathing would be..
told myself to keep it about 9:30 or so.
i had already given up on my "a" goal when i got sick
my "b" goal was to go sub 4...

and realistically wasn't too sure about that either.
i found a 4 hr pace band that had time allotted for 2 warm up miles around 9:30
so i went with that thinking i'll start slow and if i feel good..i'll speed up

well, right off the bat my HR was high...160's...not good
(usually is in the 140's for the first mile and
 then stays pretty constant in the low 150's)
(on my 22 mi long run....i ran 22 miles @9:30avg pace @avgHR152)

about mile 4

i should have known right then...to slow down...
but in my head i kept thinking about my 22 mile run
and i didn't want to go slower than 9:30

i saw mom and dad at mile 1...waved to them
a little ways down were the hoffman's..
about mile 2 was rich and ryne
rich & ryne showed up again at mile 4
so nice to see everyone. gave me such a lift.
feeling ok at this point, but i knew my HR was high,
but foolishly, i thought it would come down.
 so we're running along this trail towards old town clovis.
about mile 5, i see drew's 2nd grade teacher.
old towne clovis- about mile 8
9:25, 9:07, 9:18, 9:16, 9:12 (miles 1-5)

got into old towne clovis and there were tons of people. lots of people cheering.
saw rich & ryne again about mile 8...
rich knew i was off my sub 4 pace and kept
asking if i was ok.
just kept saying yes...and smiling.
but deep down i knew.
HR was too high...still in the mid 160's.
(miles 5-10) 9:27, 9:24, 9:30, 9:32, 9:21




about mile 11
i'm still smiling, trying to get my breathing under control.
there was a girl in pink that i was runnning with in the beginning
and her and i were staying close to one another...
i just kept telling myself to stay with her.
i remember getting to the halfway and they were calling times.
2:04...is what i thought i heard.  i was thinking ok...
just keep this pace and you'll come in with a respectable time
about mile 14.5 i hear tons of cheering...
my sister, Lisa, her husband, Chris, their kids, my sister, Ally, and her kids, and my mom were all there cheering for me. so exciting!!
(miles 11-15) 9:35, 9:27, 9:38, 9:35, 9:33

mile 16 is where you round the corner and head down a long stretch of road called friant.  it seems to go on forever. and this is when my ipod died.


The Ugly
about mile 18...everyone was there again...rich & ryne, shannon, drew, chris, mr. & mrs. sly, jeff and katie, all the kids, and lisa is running at me with her camera. she got a great picture of me. the last one that i was probably smiling in. because after that...the wheels started to come off.  i remember looking down at my watch and looking at my HR still in the mid 160's...and thinking that it's been over 3 hours with my HR that high.
about mile 20 is when i saw the 4 hour pacer on the other side of the road. and not long after the 4:15 pacer came up behind me..i thought to myself...try and keep up with him...but nope. no way.
about mile 13

(miles 16-21) 9:47, 9:52, 10:20, 10:57, 10:40, 10:33

from mile 21 on was pretty much miserable.  i walked for a minute and then would try to run again. my legs were just tightening up...my heart rate had dropped alot...was in the 150's now.  i had followed my hydration/fueling plan, no problems. taken all my gu's and my salt tabs, and i was drinking tons.  i just kept at it. even if i walked...i tried to do it fast. and 21 is when the hill started.  it is a gradual hill that lasts for about 2 miles. pretty much power walked up the hill.  at mile 23 my HR was down into the 140's. just kept doing the run/walk thing.  kept telling myself, if i keep walking...its just gonna take longer. and i kept thinking...don't let the 4:30 pacer pass you.  make it in under 4:30!  everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. at about mile 25 i hear someone calling my name.  it was my friend, kristina...she came to find out where i was.  she saw the 4:15 pacer come in and worried about where i was.  she grabbed my hand and tried to get me to run.  i did for a minute or so...and then said i couldn't....she walked with me that last mile holding my hand the whole way, until i got to the chute. and she told me to run up the chute, so i pretty much mustered up everything i had and ran that last .2 and as i started to run i saw the 4:30 pacer pass me. bummer.
(miles 22-26) 11:35, 11:23, 11:53, 13:07, 13:55

running up the chute
saw mark and kym and connor cheering for me,
then i saw rich, ryne, shan, & drew.
and finally...i crossed the finish line.

after that the only thing i could think about was finding a place to sit down.  i got my medal, sweatshirt and then stood in line for breakfast of scrambled eggs, potatoes, fruit, & sausage.  couldn't stomach eating any of it. tried a bite of the scrambled eggs and almost threw up.  then i saw kristina again and she told me to sit down...so we sat, and she called rich and told him where we were.  she went and got us our ice cream/brownie sundaes.  they tasted SO good.  chatted with everyone at the end.  rich kept saying i looked as white as a ghost, and i was freezing, so my lips were nice and blue.

we left pretty quickly. walked out of the park and across the street to the cars.  the kids wanted to come with kristina and i, so we meandered over to where we thought the car was...and rich found his car.  kristina and i could not remember where we had parked the car...there were so many buildings over there and TONS of cars. so we called rich and had him come back to look for the car.  he found it in two minutes, and we were all on our way home.


almost to the finish line

got home, dranks tons of water and had a nice warm shower.
rich ordered pizza and waited on me :)  such a great guy. totally took care of me.

ready to rest for a few days...but i'm sure by the end of the week i'll be running again.

haven't decided on my next race yet...but i'll let you know.



Saturday, November 06, 2010

i'll be fighting tomorrow.

don't know if i'll be able to sleep tonight.

in less than 12 hours i will be at the starting line for my first marathon.

kinda scared, but really excited.

can't wait to get out there and run.

Friday, November 05, 2010

a look back...

marathon training officially began june 28th

19 weeks long.
ran 795.24 miles.

i completed 89 runs during training.
lots of runs in the early morning hours and the dark.
not to mention the 2+ hours every sunday.
(thanks katie for being my pit crew on several of those sundays!)

just thinking about 26.2 miles
made me break out in a cold sweat and caused my heart to race,
but my training has given me the confidence that i can do it.

i started with a long run of 12 miles
and ended up running two 20 milers and one 22 miler.

my first week of training i ran 37.9 miles
my highest week was 55.47 miles.
in july i ran 160.89mi
in august...191.39mi
in sept...200.75mi
in oct 203.71mi

finally (thanks tony) figured out
my fueling/hydration plan.

7.4.10...     12.36mi/  2:07:27/  avgHR 151/  avg pace 10:18
10.10.10...  12.48mi/  1:59:22mi/  avgHR 151/  avg pace 9:33
HUGE IMPROVEMENT!!!

ran a 10k in 50:55 and took 3rd in my age group.

so many changes,
so many milestones.
i am a different person
than i was 4 months ago.

i am so grateful for
the support of my family & friends
through this journey.

thanks for coming with me on my runs,
for listening to my constant babbling about times, & runs, & pace predictions,
for checking up on me during & after my runs,
for refilling my gatorade and giving me a mental boost,
for understanding when i had to get up at 4:30a.m. to go for my long run,
for calming me down when i get stressed out,
for the countless amounts of cheerleading
and
for endless amounts of love.
i am SO grateful.
love you all!!


update: still taking tons of vitamins, airborne, and doing the sinus rinse.   throat is a little sore, but i think it may be just the postnasal drip from the Afrin i took.  head is still a little stuffy.  drinking tons of water and resting today.  hoping for the best :)

Thursday, November 04, 2010

just what i needed to hear...

Be Strong and Courageous
Thursday, November 4th, 2010

READY:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
-Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

SET:
The Israelites had just lost their leader Moses. It had fallen to his second-in-command to take over. Joshua had led before, but never had he been THE man. And on top of that, he was replacing a legendary figure. The expectations would be enormous. Joshua had to have been terrified.

Sometimes we find ourselves in over our heads. Fresh out of seminary, I applied for my first campus ministry position expecting to be an associate campus minister. Well into the interviewing process, I was informed that I had been misinformed. If I were hired, I would be THE campus minister. With no real experience and no other offers looming, I accepted the position. I was terrified. Yet, I remained in that position for over 20 years.
Four years ago, I was called to a new ministry in a place where I knew no one and had the challenge of taking over a ministry struggling to survive financially. On top of that, during the first semester nearly 200 students became involved. Being the lone staff, I was overwhelmed.

What I discovered in both situations is what Joshua discovered--God goes with us wherever we go. He does not abandon us, and He helps us to overcome the challenges that confront us. With the Almighty God with us, we have every reason to be strong and courageous.

Today, whatever challenges you may be facing or that are looming just over the horizon, do not be afraid. The Lord will remain by your side.



This was in my mailbox this morning...love how god reassures me :)

so my sore throat is gone and my breathing is better, but i've been sneezing and i'm a little stuffed up. i was supposed to have my last run this morning, but i was pretty much up all last night sneezing. i thought it best to stay in bed and rest.  maybe i'll do a couple miles tmr, maybe.

hoping this cold passes quickly.  gonna rest today.

all the kids are back at school and are on the mend.

the next three days are gonna be full of rest, water, and carbs :)

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

i got an email...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2010 Eye-Q Two Cities Marathon and Half Marathon
E-Confirmation & Bib Number Assignment Information
Below is your bib number assignment and race information.

Name: MacIver, Rachelle (F39)
Bib #: 1698
Race: Marathon Run

today...

so i'm a little bit calmer.

my breathing is better.

went for my run this morning and it felt good.

my throat is a little bit sore, but manageable.

getting excited.

trying to relax & rest.

checking weather.com often   high of 73, low of 51  :)

trying to visualize myself running and finishing strong.

psyching myself up...

knowing it will be hard at the end

knowing i will push through

knowing i will give it my all.

my last run before the marathon is tmr morning.

it's almost here  3 days  19 hours  31 minutes......

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

i'm...
anxious
restless
depressed
scatter-brained
feeling fat
worried
happy
excited
frustrated
confidant
overwhelmed
stressed.
all rolled into one.

i'm a mess.