Nashville Marathon: A Memory Now

I did it!!!! I ran the Nashville Marathon!!! And 2 days later I feel pretty darn good!

Finishing time was 4:55:23

Complete story to follow.

Travel Day To Nashville Marathon

We'll be leaving for Nashville w/in the next few hours. Holy Moly----I'll be running a marathon in exactly 24 hrs (my computer says it's 7am)!!!!!

Today I'll hyrdrate, hydrate, hydrate (does Starbucks count in that equation??). Our drive will be about 5 hrs, so not bad. We decided to check into the hotel first, and leave Maxx there while we head over to the Expo. Temps and humidity are suppose to be high this afternoon, so I don't want to leave Maxx in the car.

After the expo I plan to lay my stuff out, go over the route and last minute directions for my support team/Gu boy Ben, hop in the pool for a bit, stretch, then get some sleep. Which, getting sleep will be the hardest part, I'll be so excited I'm not sure how well I'll sleep tonight. I did get a hotel room w/two double beds so I can stretch out and have a bed to myself. It'll be interesting to see who Maxx will decide to sleep with. I figured two beds was a good idea (both pre and post marathon) because a bed can get cramped w/me, Ben (who's 6'4'' and requires room) and Maxx (who's 86 lbs of puppy love!!).

Off to the race's!!!!!!

A Day of "Finals"

Today was my final test in Anatomy

Today was my final test in Accounting

Today was my final training run

Today is my final day before leaving for the Nashville marathon

Sigh....what a week (ok, last few weeks for that matter) it's been!!! My tests went well, but more importantly, I don't have to spend tonight studying and doing homework!!! Yes, the mind is free :) I have 2 finals next week, and then school's out for summer!!!! Well, in my case, about 5 weeks. Will be taking 9 credit hours in summer semester 1 and 7 credit hours for summer 2.

Mileage for today's last training run was 4. During that run I kept thinking "oh my gosh, I can't run 26.2 miles.....YES, I CAN, no I can't, etc, etc.....

And I spent the last few days having "phantom pains".....my knee hurts, my feet hurt, my hip hurts....ok, what didn't hurt???!!!!!

And then I went to Kroger for some weekend supplies and I found the expensive, good quality band-aids on sale (clearance for .50!!!)....so, I bought large band-aids for knee/elbow, waterproof, etc. On my way home I thought, "crap, what if buying those band-aids was a bad omen and I'm going to fall and actually NEED them".

And then I was walking across the kitchen floor and slipped on some water Maxx decided he wanted to dribble from his mouth.....I screamed and grabbed the stove handle, only to turn around and see Ben standing there, like, "what the hell is wrong w/you?".

Just get me to the start line!!!!!

So, if you don't hear from me before the marathon on Saturday, I'll post afterward....

Countdown(s)

Let the countdowns begin!!!

Days to Nashville-leaving in 3, marathon in 4.....WOW!!!!! I'm ready though :) My goals are simple: to have fun, no matter if I'm having a great/horrible run day. Stay consistent--I'm really not stuck on a certain pace, although my ideal range is somewhere between 10:30-11:15. I just want to keep running and make it up all those hills! And most importantly (to me) is just being thankfull I'm there and in good health to run!

Days to end of school semester: 8. I'm been stuck in what I call "homework/study haze" for the last week and it sucks. But, next Wed I take the last of my finals and I'll have about 5 weeks of freedom before the summer session starts.

Days until Dad's visit: 14. I'm so excited---my Dad is flying from Ohio to spend 6 days helping me put plant my flowerbeds and just hang out w/Ben and I. Better make sure I stock the freezer w/ice cream treats (his favorite when it's hot out).

Time is precious right now, so that's a rap!

Taper

Holy Cow----I have soooo much more time since I'm in taper mode this and next week before Nashville!!!!!!! It was so very odd to look at my running schedule the past few days and see 5 miles. What??? I only have to run 5 miles???!!! I went from running 65-67 miles for the past 4 weeks to running 37 miles this week and 41 miles next week (which includes the 26.2).

With my extra time I've dusted things that haven't been dusted in awhile, repotted some plants, Maxx has been going on 2 walks a day, laundry is getting done more frequently, and I have extra time for studying (much needed!!).

I pick Ben up tomorrow night. Maxx and I are looking forward to his return, we miss him and the house gets lonely w/just me in it. Allthough, Maxx is a very good shadow :)

Got my Anatomy Lab exam back today, which covered all the muscles in the cat. We've been dissecting the cat for about a month now and during the lab exam, I had to identify (and spell correctly) all the muscles. I put a lot of work into this one exam and my grade was 100%---and to top it off, I recieved all 5 pts for the bonus, making my score 105%!!!!! I'm very proud of this accomplishment :) Now, it's hell for the next 2 weeks as I take my last tests then finals.

Catching Up

I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever see Spring (and hopefully soon) summer. Glad to see the rain has stopped, but now the wind and cold is back. Oh well, guess we can't have it perfect all the time.

Recap of weekend runs: on Saturday, Cheryl and I ran 6 miles w/the LR Training Group. It was 6am cold and windy, but we managed well. Afterward we ran the Catholic High Rocket 5K. Ok, this race is 98% HILLS!!!! And big ones at that. I do well on the uphill and Cheryl does well on the downhill, so for the first mile, I'd pass her on the uphill, then she'd pass me on the downhill, so on and so on. It was funny! We hung around for the awards and door prizes. Even though I'm never lucky, I did manage to win a door prize and won 2nd place in my age group (19-29). Saturday afternoon Ben and I went shopping for work clothes for him, we took Maxx to Pet Smart, and then stopped at a furniture store and Ben bought a recliner he's had his eye on for a while. I forsee many nights of him falling asleep in his chair :)

On Sunday I ran 8 miles on the base. I went early (7am) so I could get finished and be back home to spend time w/Ben, since I had to take him to the airport Sunday afternoon because he's in Atlanta this week for work.

Today was Andrea's class at 5am, water aerobics at 7am, then met Cheryl at 5:30 so we could run to the runnign clinic. Ended up w/9 running miles.

Got my schedule of classes for the Fall semester. I'll be driving to the Community College at Hope on Tues/Thur and will have classes from 8am-4:30pm. With the 2 hr drive each way, that'll make for a very long day. My classes will be:
-History of Funeral Service
-Funeral Directing
-Funeral Service Orientation
-Embalming I
-Funeral Sociology
-Funeral Service Law
-Restorative Art I

7 classes, 17 credit hours!!! This summer I'll be taking 4 credit hours.

Leaving next Friday for the Nashville Marathon :)

Although the rain has kept me from my normal running routine this week, I've managed to get my butt kicked by spinning, water aerobics, and Andrea's classes! I think Andrea's classes alone have a great deal to do w/my level of soreness (I must say I do feel a lot stronger though), that girl can bring it!!!!

This week has also been consumed w/homework and studying for tests. Finals are in 2 1/2 weeks. I'm a geek when it comes to school, so I'll study my butt off and be ready for them!

Also-----2 WEEKS FROM TODAY we'll be leaving for the NASHVILLE MARATHON!!!!!!! Ben is going to be my water/Gatorade/Sharkies/Gu boy!!!

Surprised

Not only was I surprised, but amazed I was able to get a 10 mile run in today and not have one drop of rain hit me!!!! That was luck :) Cheryl and I had originally planned to meet at Lakewood around 1230, but we changed it to 3. Knowing I needed 10, I got there around 2 and had run 5.5 by the time she got there. It was humid and thank goodness we had a breeze (even if it was blowing only one way). And I was back home in plenty of time to blog and get ready for 5:30 water aerobics class. Not bad!

I had a nightmare last night that I was running the marathon in Nashville and I was so slow and hadn't finished when the officially shut the course down. To make matters worse, everyone on the side of the road was laughing at me and Ben was making fun of me as well. Is that not horrible or what???? These are the kind of crazy thoughts going thru my head lately :(

Busy, Busy

Time is going by much faster these past few weeks than I want it to! The Nashville marathon is less than 3 weeks away, the school semester will be over in 3 weeks, Dad's visit comes in 4 weeks, and the next round of Drill weekend (s) are fast approaching. Don't get me wrong, I certainly enjoy being busy, but these days it doesn't seem to end. Oh well, next month at this time I'll have the worries of school behind me (at least for about 2 months).

With the crappy, rainy weather last week, my mileage was lower than what my training schedule said. However, I did get 40 miles, so that's better than nothing. This is my last week of high mileage, then the taper begins. Wow, not sure if I'm ready for this!!!

Sneaking In A Run When It's Not Raining!!

Ok, raise you're hand if you're tired of this rainy, gloomy weather we've been having (mine is raised!!!). After doing a few runs in the rain these past few days, I was feeling reluctant to run today. But, I'm feeling very anxious because there's about 3 weeks left in the school semester and I just don't know how I'll get everything done....so, I jumped at the first non-raining moment I saw today, needing a study break. Pressed for time, I opted to make today my shortest mileage day, which was 7 miles. And boy am I glad I ran :) I feel much better and even had some time during my run to start thinking about who I'll place at what mile markers during the Nashville marathon----for example, I intend to put my deceased cousin Farrell at mile 10 and I'll think about him for that mile. And I'll put my Mom, Dad, Brother's, Sister, Ben, Maxx, etc, etc at various miles to help me through the marathon.
I am starting to have some marathon anxiety (must be my word of the day--anxiety!)......what should I wear, what if I can't finish it, what if I trip and fall (toward the top of my list since I've recently fallen twice in the same week and still have hurt, bruised body parts from it), blah, blah....

Break time's over, back to studying.....I'll continue w/this marathon subject soon!