I’ve got a new hero
Just two miles into the 1967 Boston Marathon, an official tried to rip off Kathrine Switzer’s bib and physically pull her off the course.
She kept going. She went on to run 35 marathons, including 8 Boston Marathons. She won the 1974 New York City Marathon and the next year had a personal best of 2 hours, 51 minutes. As if that weren’t enough, she created the Avon International Running Circuit, a global series of women’s running events in 25 countries involving over one million women. The series lead to the inclusion of the women’s marathon in the Olympic Games.
Wow. And I thought I was a badass for skinning my knee during a 17 miler and getting right back up.
Thinking about another marathon
My big con against doing another marathon is how bloody difficult it was to walk for the 24 hours – okay, 36 hours – after the event. My feet were seriously baby balloons. I’ve decided that if I could just do the whole race in less time, my feet wouldn’t get as swollen. Seven hours is just too long on the poor peddlers. So the current training goal is simple: walk faster.
I can do 13:45 minute miles for shorter walks – but I realize that I need to build in intervals of a 15:00 minute mile pace in order to have true stamina. The question is – is that fast enough to finish in 6 hours? And an even better question – is 6 hours short enough to combat the swelling? Do I need to start jogging? It’s time for some math – followed by some goal setting. Perhaps another RNR in SD ‘09 . . . . Could be a good life long habit.
O.K. – What you’re hearing is my overly analytical mind trying to figure out my marathoning. This is the chatter I’m forced to live with when I take on a race. The antidote is when I watch videos like the one posted here . . . that’s when the worries quiet, and my heart takes over. There’s an invisible force that just pulls me forward with no logic, no turning back, no matter what: finish.
Hearing about the Hoyts, all of my words dissolve into nothing. Not even silence. Just a place vacant of “Ruth”. Perhaps their inspiration brings me closer to that thing some people call “the annihilation of ego” or absence of self. Or maybe I’m just filled with an unprecedented amount of awe. What an extraordinary team.
Go Team!
Team In Training Westside – Greater L.A. – Summer 2008
This is my team.
The men & women in these pictures , specifically these men and these women, have collectively raised $363,000 to care for people with cancer,
and to research a cure for cancer.
I’m really proud of these people.
p.s. iMovie beats cleaning the house!
Let’s Go!
I had envisioned my last post before the marathon to be something philosophical about going the distance or the zen practice of being out there for hours walking (with no iPod). However, I guess somewhere along the way I became a real athlete because all I want to talk about this morning is my legs.
I realize it may be too late to be trying this – but I’m following coach’s orders. Thursday morning he said to me, “Try The Stick”, which led me to the super cool athlete at the Running Shoe Store, and the patient listener at the Physical Therapy (PT) Store both of whom told me it can’t hurt to get going on my very own foam roller. When I tried to buy the more expensive, “Stick”, from each of them they advised me to save my money and use a roller instead – because they see better results with the roller. Yes, I told them I’m cramming for an event on Sunday. No one advised me not to get rolling immediately. Yes, I’m taking it cautiously.
What’s a roller and what the hell does one do with it? We have some PTs on our team who already got us all acquainted with the idea. Did I pay attention that day? Of course not! Thank God for YouTube:
I started doing this rolling stretch in my office at work last night just to find out if my legs would feel okay 12 hours later. So far so good. I’m going to have one more go at it before I consider myself “inside marathon day”; even though, I guess I already am. . . 24 hours from now, I will be on the course!
The guy at the PT store also gave me a couple fanny pack size samples of BIOFREEZE. I tried it last night to make sure it didn’t have adverse effects. It’s good. Boy is it good. I googled & googled & couldn’t find any mention of it doing harm. Sounds like a common thing on marathon courses. It’s coming with me.
As I left the PT guy yesterday, he clenched his fists in front of his ribcage and offered this, “Be strong on Sunday.” It was the highlight of my day.
Off I go to be strong.
Great day
Today started with 8 easy miles walking w/ my new friend K, and our team. It was our last practice together. Most of our mates wore costumes — funny, flourishing costumes. We had a good work out. Even though K’s got feet problems and god-knows-what is up with my knee (IT band?), we clocked in with an average pace of 15:02 minute miles. Not too shabby. (If you’re new to this blog – I’d like to reiterate, we’re walkers, not runners.) Where was I? (Aside from being defensive?) Oh- 15:02 minute miles – and it was comfortable. Cake, really. I learned that Ibuprofen is a MIRACLE GODSEND. I felt the pain, but it wasn’t sharp.
Next, we listened to coaches tell us to trim our toenails early this week, proceed by eating salty chips and chicken noodle soup, getting plenty of sleep Wednesday thru Friday and being sure to keep our feet up “listening to music” or watching a movie in the hotel on Saturday afternoon. Rumor has it, coach Kevin has the low-down on how to use a hotel room coffee maker to make oatmeal (at 3am on race day) Sigh. Such is the life of a marathon athlete. Here. we. go.
I came home to ice down the knee. Amazing thing – ice. Comfy 2 hour nap next to my beloved, followed by primping and heading out to see a WONDERFUL DOCUMENTARY: Up the Yangtze.
Man, I was weeping. What a poignant, educational, and, yes – I agree with The Voice – brilliant movie. More on this later.
After the show, I limped – with pain – to a nearby izakaya, Sasaya, for dinner. Yuuuum, yuuum, yum, yum! The waiter helped point out lots of vegetarian delicacies for Andy. I learned that sake must be an anti-inflamitory. My knee feels fully integrated and silent. Arigato. It’s all made sweeter by the fact that tomorrow is a holiday from work.
In writing this, I just watched one of the trailers for “Up the Yangtze.” It makes me feel so grateful. Yeah, I’m happy to have my knee numb like I mentioned already, but much more than that: so. much. more. than that, I’m filled with awe and appreciation that I could be so lucky in this life. That I could be so rich. So rich. A man in the movie said that to be a human being is hard, but to be a “common person in China” is especially hard. He couldn’t stop from crying.
I don’t want to forget how lucky I am today.
This one goes out to Disa
Just yesterday, I learned that one of my old 30 Voices cohorts, Disa, is training for the same marathon I am! And she’s a runner! Runners have my total respect. She hinted that she’d like a glimpse at my black toe. I wasn’t planning to post this photo . . . but, hey, I’ll do almost anything for a badass fellow marathoner. Disa, woman, sleep well this week. We’re going to need it.
WOW! THANK YOU!
This afternoon I was out w/ some friends doing a good deed. While I was out, I peeked at my phone to check my email and saw that my TNT donations crossed over the $2,400 mark. I had FINALLY reached the required fund raising minimum for my marathon!!
I think it’s really fantastic that this thing that I’d been stressing about for weeks (How on earth to raise $2400??) finally got resolved when I spent some time doing something else for other people. Literally.
When I set up my TNT fund raising website, I purposely chose the option NOT to have the donors names and amounts listed. I did this because I wanted people to feel comfortable giving outside of the public eye.
But I do want to tell you some things about the people who donated. There were 30 people in all (so far). Every person who gave surprised me and delighted me with their generosity.
- Five of the people who gave are blood relatives.
- Two of the people who gave are new friends who have come into my life within the last couple of months.
- The individual who donated the most money hasn’t seen me in many years – and I don’t know when we’ll see each other again (although I hope it’s sooner than later).
- I used to play all night sessions of monopoly with one of the donors.
- One of the donors gave from another continent.
- I used to have an elementary school crush on one donor, but I can’t remember which grade we were in.
- One of the donors still lives on the same street where my long time best friend grew up.
- I had pretty fun “make-out sessions” with two of the donors – in two different decades – but have seen neither guy in over 5 years.
- Three of the donors gave without ever having met me.
- Two of the donors were college roommates of mine – each in a different residence.
- Many people who gave told me they had loved ones who suffered with cancer.
- One person who gave knew an 8 year old who died of leukemia.
- Two women who donated gave birth to baby boys within the last two months.
- One donor is in training to do a 525 mile bike ride for the Arthritis Foundation this fall.
- One donor told me I’ve got chutzpah – and I’m so flattered!
Garmin, birth and surrender
This thing will revolutionalize my life . . . transform my every waking motive and desire.
I limited myself to one mile today (in a continued effort to rest my IT band), but that one mile was enough to show me how much I’m going to LOVE using my Garmin GPS watch after the marathon. I’m going to be putting in miles for the sheer thrill of competing with myself and those little numbers on the screen.
On the down side, even one mile put the whisper of a near twinge in my knee. Not good.
I’ve just caught myself reading other blogs under the tag “marathon”. It’s messing with my mind. Oprah ran a 4:29 marathon?!! Really!?? 6 miles of truth? I realize I have to stop taking in these stories. Why? Because the birthing teacher told us not to listen to other people’s stories. “Birthing teacher?,” you ask?
Today, when I was in the shower totally petrified with thoughts of marathon blogs I had read last night, I finally remembered an important lesson I learned years ago when I had the privilege of serving as the birth coach for a dear friend of mine. She had enrolled us in hypnobirthing classes. This was for the birth of her second baby. Her first birth experience had been highlighted on national TV when she and her husband were the first home birth on TLC’s “A Baby Story”. So when it came time to deliver the second baby, her husband was a bona fide expert. The way I remember it, he said, “Honey, you can take a class if you need to, but I know how to deliver a baby.” So she enrolled in Hypnobirthing and I was the lucky recipient of free classes. Our impressive teacher advised, “Stop listening to people telling you about their birth experiences.” We learned that each birth is unique.
“Your body will take you on the journey you need to go on.”
And so it shall be with my marathon. Tight IT Band and all. Breathe. Breathe. Stop pressing the “marathon” tag link & visualize a comfortable race. A comfortable race. Inhale. Exhale. 8.5 more days.
I have this anxiety about how I haven’t trained properly, about how I can’t have the taper blues because a body can’t taper from what it never really followed through on. And 7 days of carboloading? Hello, my whole life is a carboload! I’m not rea . . . Inhale. . . . exhale. . .
“When women marathoners understand that pain is caused by constrictor hormones, created by fear, they learn, instead, to release fear thus creating endorphins—the feel good hormones. They are then able to change their expectations of long, painful labor marathons and are able to replace them with expectations of a more comfortable birthing racing.”
Mind over matter . . . it’s worth a try.
- – - – - -
POST RACE UPDATE – (June 26, 20008) – For the record ….. yep, it worked. My last 6 miles were bliss. Would I have wanted to do the race without ibuprofen? No. Grateful for the drugs. Still – I had a WONDERFUL experience – and I think it’s because I spent some time the week beforehand visualizing feeling good during those last 6 miles. I’ll write more about the whole race soon in a future post.
p.s. If you’re new to endurance sports – please read up on which painkiller is best for you. Ibu’ is known to cause problems in some people. Acetaminophen is often recommended instead.
Why am I awake at 12:41am . . .
. . . when I have a big day at work tomorrow?
Just found my way to someone else’s blog . . . . she recently ran the 1st training session of her 2nd marathon season. She sounded discouraged, doubtful, determined. And she mentioned a quote I’ve never heard before, “twenty miles of hope, six miles of truth.”
Tonight as I limped away from the grocery store — using the cart more as a walker than I care to admit, for the very first time I thought, “What if the pain gets to be too much?” Then came a whole series of responses:
Don’t even imagine that. . . You’ve never thought like that before. . . You’ll take more ibu and you’ll drink plenty of water. . . Ibu doesn’t upset your stomach. . . You’ll stretch. . . You’ll stop and go and stop and go and cry and go until you reach the finish line. . . Don’t think that way. . . You’ll stretch now. . . It won’t get that bad.
I just keep thinking, “I’m only a walker. How do the runners do it?”
At another blog, I learned about Grandma Lee. She ran her 100th marathon last Sunday. She ran her first one when she was 49. So there’s time.
Today I ordered the Garmin Gizmo. (Forerunner 205). I just realized that after two long walks with GPS pacing, I’m not going to want to face race day without keeping an eye on those numbers. Sometimes I can get down into the 12 minute range. I haven’t been able to sustain it yet, but it’s a goal. If only my IT band will heal or lengthen or whatever it needs to do, then I can get back to work on the speed. Not for this marathon, but for some race in the future.
I don’t want to become a runner. Walking is my sport. I want to walk faster. Coach says, “You’ll beat some of the runners.” I think, Yeah, the injured ones. He’s just being nice. But some day maybe I really will be fast.
My knee is talking to me
Starting at about mile 7 . . . ”Hi, I’m your Iliotibial Band, remember me? We met a couple weeks ago, but you didn’t know my name then.”
Mile 8.5 . . . a little louder, “So, yeah, we’re going to get to know each other really well. You can call me I.T. band for short.”
Mile 10 . . . louder than all my other thoughts, “Every little step you take, here I am. Hello! Hello! Hi there! I.T. Band here.”
Miles 9 – 12 yesterday were pretty much all focused on pain management. I’m thinking that resting and lots of stretching for the next couple weeks, plus a dose of ibu on the day of and I’ll make it through the marathon. Oh, I’ll make through no matter what. The only question is just how badly it’ll hurt. It’s a good sign that I didn’t feel any pain at all for the first 7 miles yesterday.
Coach sent me a whole set of stretches to make the damn thing shut up. It’s really interesting how today after doing a couple stretches, I can take a few steps without any pain. But on the fourth step, there’s a quiet, “Hi!”
Marathon Training Update
Accomplished to date:
30 work outs – 168.52 miles.
(It’s actually supposed to be a lot higher, but I’ve been slacking majorly on my mid week workouts!)
$2330 raised to fight cancer.
Stay tuned as these numbers grow.
Here’s to a cure in our lifetime!
That wicked cold that caused me to stay home from work on Tuesday actually got worse later in the week. Cough, chest congestion, yuck! I’ve been resting all day. Not quite sure I’m up for the 12 mile taper workout (in 700 degree weather) tomorrow. But I think I’ll go.
Even though waking up at 6am on Sunday totally bites, (especially when you’re sick) I kind of enjoy seeing my teammates. I don’t know very many of them by name, but I find being in their presence really inspiring.
Only two more Sunday practices before marathon day. Wow! This is like sitting in the roller coaster, locking that safety harness into place and beginning to hear the motor pull us forward. We’re headed towards that starting line. This is living.
P.S. – I must just point out that the photo featured at this post is an actual candid shot of my teammates working out. I’ve cropped it to protect their anonymity. Each time I scroll past it here, I think, wow, they look just like models on a print ad. They look great! I’m so proud of my mates!
Yeah, I’m pretty much a badass
I had so much fun today!! Coaches lied. They promised us a 20 mile work out and we only went 19.77.
I’m so proud of my walking partner K. We both had personal records — walked farther than we ever had before. Coach offered me the use of his Garmin GPS tracker again and our average pace (stopping the clock for each potty break) was 15:10 minute miles. We actually sped up as we went along – which was the goal.
Unfortunately, I needed to make 3 (or was it 4?) potty stops. Once, an entire team of bikers all dressed alike beat us to the 76 station Read the rest of this entry »
Semi-coherent rambling
About a week or so before the U.S. entered Iraq in 2003, I heard a radio interview between a journalist and an actor in Baghdad. He was rehearsing for a play that was scheduled to open sometime in late March. The journalist asked something to the effect of, “Aren’t you wasting your time?” The actor indicated that no, the endeavor to perform the show was not a waste of time. They intended to put the play on as scheduled. He talked about the craft of acting, the magic of the theater. He sounded so strong and committed.
I wonder if he’s still alive? What has happened to him and his fellow actors in the five years since then?
Yesterday when I was walking from Palisades Park to Amalfi Drive to Sunset Blvd., to San Vincente Blvd., I passed by hundreds, if not thousands, of amazingly beautiful flowers. I wondered if my “Women for Women sister” in D.R. Congo ever gets to see flowers. I thought about how people here can garden without worrying about getting shot at.
I can’t imagine having to walk 17 miles without my medically researched shoes and scientifically formulated sports drinks and Gu packs and table salt. Add to that the fact that I got to do the walk in complete safety, utterly positive that no one with machetes was after me or anyone I know.
I was so safe that I could take time to enjoy the seeing the colors of the flowers. And not only were the flowers there — thriving because we have the luxury to grow them and the extra water to feed them — but my mind was free from fear and comfortable enough to appreciate them.
I just don’t know what to do with all of this good fortune. It makes me cry sometimes.
Today’s route
17 miles
It was a good walk, today.
Drew blood; yay! My walking partners totally saved me from having a complete wipe out.
What is a scratch could have been a lot worse.
Oh, and I think I’m losing one of my middle toenails.
Spirit of the marathon.
Stay tuned.
This weekend
Saturday we were treated to a really nice dinner at The Lobster.
I spent Sunday at my favorite place on earth: The L.A. Times Festival of Books. Somehow, in a crowd of, how many thousands of people (?), we ran into our friends. I knew they were going to be there . . . but it’s always a surprise when you find each other unexpectedly.
And today, I woke up one minute before the alarm went off (5:59am) and am now prepping for our 17 mile training day. No time to blog, I have to start spreading “Body Glide” and Vaseline all over my feet. The combo totally prevented blisters last week. Insha’Allah.
Oh, did I mention the high is 87 here today? . . . . If you think of me any time before 12:30pm PST, imagine sodium and ice cubes. It’s worth a try right?
I’m RELENTLESS!
Some day, I will be able to say that I raised (at least) $2400 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Until that day arrives, I won’t stop trying to find new ways to meet the goal.
I’m sharing this with you now, not to ask for money, but because those of you reading this have been along side me in my thoughts during this endeavor.
Check out my latest strategy. Feel free to pass the link on to anyone you think might just NEED a hip baby shirt, or two or three.
Marathon Training Update
It was supposed to be 15 miles, but I miscalculated while improvising the route. Oh well.
Today was the first (and hopefully) only day that I chose to do a long walk without the team. We were all supposed to meet in a new location – Palos Verdes – at 7:15am for a hilly 15 mile work out. After waking up at 4:15am yesterday for our fundraising yard sale, and then finding out that there are no bathrooms on the Palos Verdes route, I decided that sleeping in and walking a route with the guarantee of plumbing would be a prudent move. It’s all well and romantic to imagine a young runner peeing in the bushes, but I’m walker. It takes me nearly 4 hours to do 15 miles. I can’t stay hydrated for 4 hours without at least one potty break. So I decided to go it alone.
I’m used to seeing Venice Beach at 8am. It’s an entirely different place at 2pm on a Sunday. Visually amazing, but all together annoying while trying to maintain a pace. I cheated and went on the bike path for a bit, but felt a little worried about upsetting the cyclists. That time of weekend day, the bike path is as congested as the 405. I am glad I risked it for a short time though, because I encountered the graffiti park. This is a picture I found on the web taken of a day far less beautiful than today – but I wanted to show you how cool it is:
Over all, my time was 4 hours, 4 minutes, 45 seconds. I knew I’d lost a lot of time dodging strollers, puppies and kids too young to be on scooters in such a crowded place, not to mention waiting for the bathroom at the beach more than once. So when I saw my overall time, I figured I had probably miscalculated the distance. Sure enough upon plugging my route into the gmaps pedometer, I saw that I had only gone 14.64 miles.
Most of that was without an iPod. Whenever my thoughts got impatient about how long it was taking, I just repeated to myself, “Be present. Be present.” I learned that it’s much easier to think about what’s right in front of you than to build up anxiety about how much longer there is to go.
Huge lesson of the day: GO EARLIER. I became completely allergic to the crowds. I think that’s how I cheated myself out of the last .40 of a mile. I just couldn’t bear the thought of going back to the tourists walking along the beach view park.
All in all, a good day, though.
“All Swords, One Dollar” . . . “Each!”
Swords were the big seller yesterday. It’s genetic: put any Boy Child between the ages of 4 and 8 within a 6 foot proximity to a plastic sword and the two will become inextricably joined.
That was the highlight of my yard sale experience, seeing little swashbucklers making their way back to the family vehicles brandishing their happy finds. Thank goodness one of my donators had brought a whole bin of swords. Plastic, of course.
Not that I’m ever going to have a yard sale ever again, for as long as I draw oxygen into my lungs, you are my witness: never again. However, if I were going to advise someone on the mechanics of such a thing as How to Have a Yard Sale, I would say, load up on the swords. Read the rest of this entry »
More walking . . .
I walked to work today. I didn’t have a photographer on hand to capture my feet, no. But those are my feet. Snapped on another, not so long ago, day.
The distance to work from my apartment – door to door – down the exact streets I traveled is 2.895 miles. I know this because I plotted the course here. Such a cool site!
Knowing the distance, I approximated that it would take me about 45 minutes. I set my timer when I left home. It was a lovely morning for a walk.
I passed by a school playground at recess and saw lots of short people with high pitched voices tossing balls around and running in circles.
I passed by the Unitarian church where we had the memorial for our friend, Jim, years ago.
I passed by a senior citizens’ home where a man in a wheelchair and a wide brimmed sun hat gave me a giant smile and an enthusiastic, “Good morning.”
I passed another man with long white hair dressed in orange robes and flip flops. He stopped to tell a gardener something and shook his finger in the gardener’s face. I don’t know what he was saying because the gardener’s lawnmower made too much noise. The gardener didn’t frown behind Orange Robe’s back, so perhaps there wasn’t a conflict after all.
I passed two tiny dogs chasing each other – tangling their leashes.
I passed a man wearing a tractiony metal brace – a screw crown looking sort of thing – around his head walking with a cane outside of the hospital. He looked strong all the way to the first street sign, where he grabbed on and rested.
I passed a really nice looking funeral home where I wondered if I think about death more than I think about sex. I got to see the DHL driver bring two boxes to the funeral director’s office. Mail order Formaldehyde?
I passed an old priest walking east to my west. He had a king sized half eaten Hershey’s chocolate bar in his hand and was about ready to take another bite when I smiled at him.
I passed the beyond-natty dread haired homeless man who is always on the corner of Wilshire and Lincoln. He had a companion with him today whose delusional cardboard sign misspelled either “faggots” or “fascists”; I passed before I could read the whole note.
I passed by the cupcake shoppe.
By the time I got work, my timer said 44:28. Go figure. I would have had a decent pace if it weren’t for all the dastardly stop lights!
All I could think when it came time to stop moving my feet was, I want to keep going – I’ve just gotten started.
