The Stay Puft Marshmallow Crew

I am beginning to think I will never remember what it was like to run with less than 3 layers of clothing on. Tonight was no exception.  Run class with the running 102 ladies, who have been inside on the dreadmill more time than they have been hitting the pavement outside.  So I told them come hell or high water (what does that mean anyway...come hell or high water???) we would run outside.  Even when I checked  weather.com (if you looked at my history in my laptop, the most hits would be to Jim Cantore...) and saw the temp would be 13 degrees at 6 pm with a wind chill of 0 I figured we could tough it out.  Then I did what any reasonable girl would do and called her friend.  Who happens to be as crazy of a runner as I am.  And Sara said, "sure, let's go outside".  So I geared up:  a pair of tights, long smartwool socks, lined running pants, marino wool sports bra, smartwool tank top, icebreaker long sleeved shirt, patagonia fleece, and wind resistant outer shell.  2 pairs of gloves, ear warmers and a hat.

In a word:  Stay Puft Marshmallow (wo)Man (I guess that is 4 words)

To my surprise Sara wasn't the only crazy runner that joined me.  The rest of the Stay Puft Marshmallow gang started rolling in, donned in more layers of marino wool than a freakin' herd of sheep. 7 of us braved the elements and even started shedding layers as we started our hillwork.  

I can assure you, as we finished our workout and ran back up Schavey Road we got looks of disbelief from the drivers in their warm cozy cars, butts warmed by their seat heaters.  I probably would have thought the same thing any other day.  

But tonight I felt like a winter warrior, layers and all.  

The forecast for tomorrow's Speedwork class:

5 degrees, real feel of -13 degrees with winds at 17 mph.  

We'll just have to see about that one...

The Dreadmill

I did all I could to avoid you.  In fact, I think I was in denial.

When I woke up with 11 inches of snow on the ground and wind gusts in the 30s, I knew running outside was NOT an option.  I promptly brought up Hal's training guide and saw I needed to run 5 miles.
Hm. Could I do said 5 miles another day?  Nope, had other training runs or other commitments.
I poured myself a cup of coffee while the kids pranced around me to the imaginary tune of "no school! snow day! no school!".  My husband came downstairs and hopped on the treadmill for his morning run.  Oh darn.  Looks like the dreadmill is occupied....

Sidebar: Why is it that I don't mind the treadmill at the YMCA, but I can't stand working out on mine?  Is it because it is holed up in the basement and all I do is stare at a white wall while I run?  Is it because my kids constantly come down and try to talk to me above my blaring music, messing up my 'mill zone?

I moved onto a second cup of coffee.  Kids still dancing.  5 miles looming over my head. I walked down to the basement and just looked at the dreadmill.  It looked back at me.  I came upstairs and baked a loaf of banana bread.  Who knew...It takes 1 hour to bake banana bread so I'd better hang upstairs until its done.

It was done.  Reluctantly I gave in and went upstairs and put on my running clothes. On the way to the basement I found a few things that needed done.  The dishwasher needed to be unloaded and loaded.  And jeez was the living room floor full of dog hair!  Better vacuum that up.  I rechecked my training schedule to make sure it said 5 miles. Yep.  5 miles.

Downstairs the 'mill and I had another stare down...as if it was taunting me and saying "you gonna do this or what?".  Before I could think of any other chores that needed done (although my kitchen floor could really use a good scrub by hand...) I hopped on.  And I ran. I didn't love it, although I didn't hate it either.  As I ran, I thought about my post dreadmill reward:  a 2 pm snowday glass of wine.  Or two.

45 minutes and 5 miles later, I was done.  Let's hope the roads are clear today because I don't want to have another stare down with that piece of machinary again!

We meet again Mr. Higdon

Oh, how I've missed you Hal.  For the past 3 months I have ran without a plan.  Ran 3 miles here.  Ran 5 miles there.  Ran at a 10:30 pace.  Ran at a 7:40 pace (well, that was a 5K race to be fair.  But it sounds pretty freaking cool to throw it in there, you know?).  Skipped a whole 2 weeks of running due to 4 nasty wisdom teeth plucked out of my jaw, dry socket and a nasty infection (let me tell you...Fuuuuunnnn Times).  I have to admit, it was nice to be without a plan.  To run free.
But 2011 brings the promise of a new racing season.  A half marathon race in April, a couple of 5Ks thrown into the mix, and a little something called my 2ND MARATHON at the end of May.  Oh, and another lottery application to the NYC marathon for November (2nd time is a charm...right Sara??).  And all of this brings a visit to www.halhigdon.com where I can be neurotic and obsess about how fast to run mid-distances and how to complete my long distance runs during vacation.  And I love it.  A true type A runner, I love the structure that my old friend Hal brings to my running days.   Thanks for coming back to me Hal baby.  Zach might have some competition.

Friends, let's put it out there:  What are you running this first half of 2011 and what are your goals?  There is some scientific evidence that if you actually put your goals in writing you are more likely to accomplish them.  So I am assuming that if you tell them to lots of faceless people in the blogging world, your chances to achieve these goals goes up immensely! Let's hope we can all look back at this blog post and say "I DID IT!" to every single one...

I suppose I can start us off:
April 2nd:  Martian 1/2 Marathon.  Good goal: under 2 hours.  Most awesome goal: 1 hour 51 min.
April 17th:  Race for the Cure.  Good goal: under 23 minutes.  Most awesome goal:  22:30
May 28th:  Bayshore Marathon. Good goal: 4 hours 10 min.  Most awesome: under 4 hours. GULP!

Yikes.  I sure put it out there.

Oh!  One more thing...I'll be blogging over at http://gfrteam.blogspot.com with an awesome focus group training for various distances at Bayshore in May while learning Good Form Running techniques.  Be sure to follow us too!

The Diva is on (temporary) heitus

Do you remember the crazy detox of last January that I did?  The green smoothie on the ceiling? The shakes from not ingesting my thousands of milligrams of caffeine?
Well, I am back at it again.  Whole Living magazine is hosting another 28 day challenge and put a request on their website for bloggers to chronicle their experience.  I figured, what the heck, and submitted an application to be a "featured blogger".  Wouldn't you know I got it!  HA!
So now all the Whole Living world will see hear of my detox trials and tribulations.  Lovely...

If there is lack of posting in Dec/January, that is why my friends. But, if you'd like to catch me on their site here is the link:
http://community.wholeliving.com/profile/KimAeschliman

And, if the detox doesn't kill me, check back soon as I am sure there will be some running diva stories to share.  I am sure of it!

A true confession of a Diva...

I have a confession to make. No, not the confession about secretly wanting to take the Valium last night that my oral surgeon gave me to take before my wisdom teeth operation. 
Here it is.  I am nervous to run a 5K.  Yep, you heard it right.  There is just something so *safe* about running a half marathon or a marathon. OK, OK, before I lose most of you, let me explain myself.
When I run long distances, rarely am I overly concerned about my time.  I ran the first mile in 10 minutes? Great!  The 2nd mile in 9 minutes, 30 seconds?  Right on.  The 10th mile in 9 minutes 15 seconds.  Awesome.  There is no "warming up";  that's what the first few miles are for.  A sprint to the finish?  Hell no, it's a gradual pickup the last mile.  Most of the time, it is just a feat to complete the long distance at hand.  You feel victorious crossing the finish line because you ran 13.1 miles or 26.2 miles.  The time you did it in is usually an afterthought (for the most part...).
The 5K?  It's a different beast for me.  I am in direct competition with myself, every 5K I do, to beat my last 5K PR.  I feel as if I need to bust out every 5K with full speed ahead...and feel like my time is wasted if I am not wheezing for breath by the finish.   If I go out too hard that first mile, I am screwed the last mile because there is nothing left.  If I go out too easy that first mile, I am always wondering "could I have gone faster?".   And yes, I am one of those fools that is warming up before a 5K, take a 1/2 mile jog around to prepare my legs for full steam ahead propulsion.  There is the subject of gadgets...I NEED music for a 5K, yet I run my long runs without an iPod.  I wear my watch for the 5K and like I have some sort of tic I look down at that sucker every few minutes to see where my pace is at.  I think I looked at my watch twice during the marathon! 
Tomorrow is the first 5K I have run since July:  The Jingle Belle 5K.  It is winter, it is cold, and there is (a little) snow on the ground.  I keep telling myself, "Kim, just go out and run for fun.  Don't look at your watch.  Just run."
Yeah, right.

me at the Jingle Belle last year.  yes, i appear to be having fun.

No really...where have YOU been?

So. I blog all about my training for this marathon.  I run this marathon.  Then, I don't blog about it.  I even go as far as teasing you with a little blog entry but then never follow through.  What in the heck is wrong with me?  Here's my theory: There are moments in my life that I would consider "Top 10s".  One such moment would be getting my drivers license, my ticket to freedom.  Another moment would be stepping foot into my college dorm and starting a new chapter in my life.  Getting married, another top 10 worthy moment.  Having my two children, yet 2 more top moments in my life.  And now completing my first marathon:  for sure top 10 worthy...maybe up there in the top 5.

So why can't I sit down at my ancient computer (blog entries will be a-plenty once we purchase our MAC) and write down my feelings, thoughts, anything about this blessed event?

Do you think you could write about your emotions, feelings, etc. about any of your top 5 life moments?  Can you imagine putting down into words when you were walking down the aisle, about to be given away by your dad to your husband?  How about when the doctor put your newborn warm baby on your chest and said "he's all yours?". 

Sure, I could write to you about the step by step (literally) of our marathon day.  I could tell you that we started slow, conservatively, and then went our separate ways at mile 15.  I could tell you about the awesome Baltimore crowds, my supportive friends there cheering me on, the thousands of runners we shared a smile or a conversation with over the course of 4-plus hours.  But to me, that wouldn't capture what my first marathon meant to me.  And, for the first time (probably ever in my life), I am at a total loss of words.

The only thing I can say is if you have ever had a dream of pushing yourself to do something that you weren't so sure you could do (but deep down kinda thought you could), just go for it.  Get out of your box.  Out of your comfort zone.  Because I promise you, when you achieve your goal (and you know you will) it will feel like nothing you have ever felt before. You will  be so glad you took a chance on YOU and went for it.  I know I am.

So I leave you with that.  I thank my Divas for taking a chance and coming along for the ride.  Staci who just ran Chicago 6 short days before and definitely pushed her body beyond its limits.  Amazing.  Lisa, my marathon virgin partner in crime, who shared this "first" with me.  Peg, who selflessly hopped on an airplane and came to cheer us (she too ran Chicago). And Sara, who swore she'd never do a marathon again but did it for me.  Gotta love these ladies.

And gotta love the fact that we are back at it again.  Yes...the emails are flying back and forth about our racing potential racing schedule for 2011.  Is there another marathon in this girl's future. 
You'd better freakin' believe it.

The Marathon...part I

I know what you are thinking...where in the heck has she been?  She makes us read this (somewhat entertaining) blog for almost a year, in anticipation of of this BIG marathon she is doing in October.  Then, she runs said marathon and nothing.  Nada.  No posts, no pictures, no funny stories.  Not a single word.

Well, like Hal Higdon's post-marathon training guide (titled week 0-how clever) says you need to take a break from running after the big race, I also needed to take a break from writing.  And while I am at it, I'll give you some more excuses.  Seems like leading up the marathon, I put off a bunch of stuff.  Most of which I said could "wait until after the marathon".  Guess what?  None of it magically got done!!  And...since returning from Baltimore and not needing to block off hours to run, I *had* to actually do it!  EGADS!

Well, I find myself with some time today to reflect on my marathon experience...which was AMAZING.  We all did it right by hopping on an airplane and heading out east to our destination marathon.  I love my kids, I love my husband, but it was so nice to just worry about ME for the day before and day of the race.

Upon touch down at Baltimore's international airport, we Divas had a pretty packed afternoon.  We started out with a delicious lunch (let the carb loading CONTINUE!) and then headed down to the Expo to pick up our bibs and fluorescent yellow marathon shirts.  Hell, I didn't care if that sucker was see through!  I needed proof that I actually ran this thing to strut around Dewitt in.

The Divas in front of the Expo.  Danielle, Peg, Staci, Sara, Kim and Lisa



Kim and Danielle checking out the finish line.  Looked so much different the day before then it did after 26.2...

After the Expo, the Type A excessive-ness commenced.  First we worked on laying out all of our clothing, along with our sneakers, hats, iPods, spibelts, making sure said spibelts were filled with the appropriate amount of GUs.  And speaking of GUs, there was also a *minor* bit of obsessing about that.  When did we say we'd GU (it was, of course, discussed at an earlier date but forgotten)?  How many did we need?  Lisa went as far as to write that business on her arm to remember.  At any rate, we also needed to attach our bibs and decorate our shirts.  Yes, we were the dorks that adorned our clothes with stickers spelling out our names and let me tell you, WELL WORTH IT.  Here's what Sara, Lisa and I came up with:

as my friend told me after I completed the marathon:  You are no longer a virgin; you are a marathon WHORE.



We continued all of this lengthy preparation until our stomachs growled for dinner.  Time to eat AGAIN!  Being I was the unofficial Baltimore tour guide, I took my girls to Sabatinos restaurant in Little Italy where we scarfed down about 5 loaves of bread (that bread was sooooo good), pasta, and salad.  A quick trip to 7-11 for Reeses Peanut Butter cups and cookies (protein!) and breakfast fixings and we were ready to call it night, while visions of mile markers and chiming Garmins danced in our heads. 

Although I am not sure how much sleep we all got since all that was on our minds was our big morning looming ahead of us.  Oh, and I am sure my elbowing Sara a few times in the middle of the night didn't help her sleep either...sorry Sara :o)

The Marathon...Part II- 26.2 miles on a beautiful Autumn morning in Charm City....to be continued...