Posts Tagged ‘marathon’

Why Marathon Training Wasn’t for Me

Tuesday, March 5th, 2013

This post has taken me a while to put into words.  I’ve been thinking about this for some time now and have had a few conversations with my runner friends about it….it’s gonna be a long one and I hope this post doesn’t offend anyone because that is totes not my intention here. (xoxo, LYLAS!)

Last year I signed up for the Chicago Marathon. I remember being nervous just hitting that ‘submit’ button during registration. Then training started and I  picked a training program I found online, began training immediately and followed that thing to a T. After making it a little more than half-way through the program I found out about my freakish injury and had to call it quits.

Little did I know that would be a blessing in disguise for me.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love running with every ounce of my soul. There’s no better feeling then heading outside after a long day at work and pounding my feet to the pavement. It’s magical how an amazing run can turn your entire day around.  What I don’t like is feeling like I have to run.  If you know me (or have read my blog a while), you know I’m a free spirit. I don’t like feeling like I have to do something and I don’t really like having things planned out. Which essentially is what training for a marathon is.

What I’ve realized from reflecting back on the almost year (I KNOW) since I found out about my injury, is that I didn’t like marathon training. I hated it in fact. I hated knowing I had to run X amount of miles everyday, that Tuesday was my rest day and Friday was a cross-training day. I hated the fact that I woke up on Friday already nervous for my long run on Saturday and that I spent all day Friday worrying about my long run the next day. I hated being sore and hungry 24/7 and most of all I hated feeling like I wasn’t running because I loved it but because I had to.

When you’re in the midst of marathon training and you find out you have an injury that requires surgery to allow you to run more than a couple miles  one time a week, it feels like the world is going to end. All that time, effort and hours spent basically felt a waste.  So yes, I was pissed. What I came to find out though is that I don’t like running long distances. And that’s OK.

What I do like is running  based on my own free-will and  running distances between 3-10 miles.  Just because I’m not training for a marathon doesn’t mean I’m not a runner.  Just because I don’t love running long distances doesn’t make me any less of a blogger either.  I love to run, therefore I am a runner. Who decides what distance accounts to someone being a runner?

It drives me insane when I hear runners say “oh it’s only three miles, I don’t think that even counts.” Uh I’m here to tell you it does. Any amount counts. If you run 13 miles vs 13.1, you didn’t finish that half-marathon.  Say you stop at 26 miles vs 26.2 in that marathon-you clearly did not finish it. So whether I run .1 miles or 16 miles, it all counts.  For people who are just getting into working out or running would you discount their progress just because they can only run .25 without stopping? No you would’t  because you know how awesome it is that anyone ever can run any distance at all.

So that is why I am choosing not to get my surgery.  The thought of being in a boot, in physical therapy and out of working out for 6+ months just so I can run a few miles more than I can now is just not worth it to me at this moment in my life. Do I wish I could run whatever distance I want, however often I want? Absolutely, no doubt in my mind about that.  But for right now, running a few miles 1-2 times a week combined with fitness classes and other machines at the gym is making me immensely happy.

I may not run often and I may not run too far but I still love running and I’m still a runner. Don’t make me feel bad about that and please don’t feel sorry for me. I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that I don’t love distance running and that is more than OK. Again, you do you, I’ll do me. Not every runner and/or blogger has to be a marathoner or half-marathoner.   I’m both and I don’t run either. And I’m awesome, and so are you.

That’s all the nonsense I have for now!

Volunteering the Marathon

Tuesday, October 9th, 2012

Being injured having to volunteer the Chicago marathon opposed to running it was honestly bittersweet for me.  I kept telling myself all last week that I was soooooo happy I wasn’t running 26.2 miles in the cold weather at 7:30 AM on a Sunday morning.  Except I didn’t really feel that way-I wanted to run.

I’m so far out of running at this point that sometimes I forget how much I truly love it.  The week leading up to the marathon made me remember how in love with the sport I am.  All I could focus on last week was the fact that I yet again had a race bib that would go unused-and it would have been my first 26.2.

However, I got up Sunday morning ready to volunteer and cheer on my fabulous friends!  When the elites ran by I got so emotional which made me even more excited to see my friends zoom by.  Though I only managed to spot Emily, cheering on all the runners who put in so much time and effort to complete this race was the best substitution for not running it that I could have imagined.

If you know me at all, you know I tend to get overly excited about pretty much everything-so knowing my friends finished the Chicago Marathon got me so excited I was peeing myself all over the course (which actually isn’t out of the ordinary at a marathon).

So CONGRATS to everyone who finished, you did something truly amazing and I couldn’t be happier for YOU! Hopefully next time I’ll be right there beside you annoying the crap out of you for 26.2 miles.

That’s all the nonsense I have for now.

ps.  Go check out my busted self on SkinnyRunner’s blog!

pss.  I wrote this post with not even a drop of wine in me.  First time for everything right?

Marathon Weekend!

Monday, October 8th, 2012

(I should warn you…I’ve had 3/4 of a bottle of wine and I’m typing this.)  HAPPY MONDAY! Do you want to punch me in the face for saying that?  I do. Anywayz, this weekend was pretty much dedicated to running…except I did not running.  Typical for my lazy butt.

Saturday was spent with Linds at the Chicago marathon expo where we met a celeb that was so super excited to meet us!

A celeb in the running world that is.  As you can see Hal Higdon looks less than impressed to be taking a picture with us (probably because he was) but Linds and I were so excited and giggled like 6th graders the rest of the expo.

Sunday was the marathon! I woke up bright and early to get to my volunteer meetup spot and was stationed as a course marshal around mile 11.  I was super sad I was only able to spot two peeps friendies (SkinnyRunner and Emily) but I cheered so loud and hard for everyone that I was completely worn out when I got home.  The best part about volunteering is we got to keep these sweet hats Linds is modeling below:

Watching the elites was as magical as I thought it would be. I actually got teary-eyed watching them because it they were so fast and inspiring!

I also cried when I met up for my date with this girl-I mean I thought it was sorta rude that she started screaming in horror when she layed eyes on me but I could just be an emotional person.

As you can see, we instantly became BFF’s and she now lives in my closet where I feed her candy corn and bloody mary’s all day long.  Honestly though, I’m fairly certain she’s leaving her husband for me  because of my brilliant photography skills:

But I think we are a match made in blogger Heaven because her photography skills are about just as good as mine as your able to see in the clear picture she took of us below:

Crystal clear! Thanks girl!

In all seriousness we had a fabulous girls night where I drank 3/4 of a bottle of wine (since I kept stealing pours while my friends chatted) and got to know the super nice and sweet SkinnyRunner.  The girl did email me begging me to hang out with her so pretending to listen to her talk for a few hours was the least I could do.

I also demanded that she take a classy pic of my friends and I:

I really don’t know why people are friends with me.

That’s all the nonsense I have for now!

PS. I do not condone blogging under the influence of wine-I just happen to do it on a daily basis. So actually I do.

Marathon Runnin Celebs

Friday, February 17th, 2012

Let me be honest here, I love celebrity gossip.  I’m sure that’s been clear from the get-go but the other day after whining about Kate Gosslin’s ability to run 26.2 miles after having 8 children I spent some time researching other celebs who have in fact run a marathon.  Let’s take a look shall we?

1. Will Ferrell. Step-Brothers funny man ran Boston with a finish time of 3:56:12.

3.  P. Diddy. Diddy and his bad boy mohawk ran NYC in a time of 4:14:54

3. Shia LeBeof.  Shia took some time off from dating his mom to run NYC in 4:35:33.

4.  Alanis Morissette. Surprisingly both hands were out of her pocket during a marathon in California where she finished in 4:17:03.

5.  George Bush.  Sweatin off those weapons of mass destruction in Texas with an impressive time of 3:44:52.

And last but least…

6. Oprah.  Oprah took her advice to the road and spent 4:29:20 yelling at those people to live their best life.

There are of course more celebs who have run marathons these were just the most surprising to me.

Life goal: BEAT THEM ALL.

That’s all the nonsense I have for now!