Stepping out of the Comfort Zone and Re-Kindling the Fire

So, it's been a little while since I last wrote anything here.  Training for the Disneyland Half started about 7 weeks ago and has been...ummm...going.  Galloway is a smart guy, but man is this program boring.  I've followed it, almost day-for-day, only veering slightly off track when I had a race scheduled, or in the case of Sucha's extreme sickness a couple weeks ago.  There isn't much change in it.  I do the same amount of time on Tuesday and Thursday, with a varied distance or interval run on Saturday.  Despite being bored, I was mentally okay with everything until a few weeks ago when I did two halfs 13 days apart.  The Patriot Half took place on May 28th(Memorial Day) and even though I felt pretty good, my official time was depressingly slow.  I was hoping to see a little bit of progress because I thought my training had been going fairly well.  Two weeks later I ran the Wounded Warrior Half and, other than the weather being a tad uncooperative, everything was awesome....until the finish line where I was still 2:21 off my PR.  More frustration and no real progress.  On top of the overall frustration, I somehow bruised my ankle, making it sore enough to have to cut my hour workout to 20 minutes on the following Tuesday. 

The events of the last 3 weeks lead me down a trail of self-doubt about my ability to complete the Dopey Challenge in January.  I mean, if I'm having to cut an hour run short, 2 DAYS after a Half, how in the world am I going to finish a full the day following a half, 10k, and 5k.  *insert sad self-pity dance here*

After some re-evaluation of my lack of progress, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and ask for help.  I know, the words are shocking to me too; I actually asked for help.  I came to the conclusion that in order to finish the Dopey Challenge, uninjured, I was going to need a professional to help me do it....not that Galloway isn't a professional, but you know what I mean.

Lucky for me, I have a friend from college who is just finishing up his PT licensing in Colorado.  Insert Nico Medrano...or, as I call him, Nico...with a C... not really sure why I call him that.  I think I met him when I was slightly intoxicated and since I tend to remember names better if I know how they are spelled I asked him to clarify if it was spelled with a K or a C. So, now I address him as Nico, with a C.  Silly inebriated nights.

Anyways...

I am Nico with a C's first true client, and I trust him completely.  He is an athlete...to the max.  I've contacted him a few times in the past with random questions and he has always been so willing to answer anything I ask, but this time is for real.  Train with a purpose is what I try to remind myself, and Nico with a C is having me train for a purpose.  He helped me re-adjust my goals to better suit my ability and has really re-kindled my overall motivation.  I'm excited again.  My weeks won't consist of the same distance and the same amount of time.  He's given me a well rounded program incorporating strength, endurance and flexibility, along with helping me with my nutrition and weight.  The total package.  I couldn't be more amped right now.  Bring on the PRs!!!

Tomorrow is the beginning of me becoming the athlete I really can be.  I'm not sure how many people would say they are excited about a Hill workout, but I am STOKED to do a hill workout tomorrow!

Let's do this!

The Music behind the Drive

I admit it.  I am a music listener.  I normally run with music playing.  I sleep with music.  When my classroom is quiet, I will typically put music on, or let the kids use their iPods.  It's how I let my mind settle. 

Last night, Shattered by O.A.R. came on my Pandora station which reminded me as to why I started running in the first place.  I've come to realize over the last year I'm a pretty broken person.  I mean, you don't end up single, like really single with no light at the end of the tunnel at 26, for nothing.  I'm an introvert and extremely awkward in social settings, which sounds ridiculous since I teach/talk to people all day long, but it's true.  I tend to either talk to much because I feel weird in silence, or I don't know what to talk about and stay completely quiet (which is typical in a group setting).  I'm not your stereotypical female either.  I'm low maintenance, to the point where be fawned over really just drives me nuts.  I am easily embarrassed-being 5'9", 129 lbs, 16.24% body fat with a 19.4 BMI.  I should be an athlete.  And, I am, but when someone smirks at my 2:20:18 half marathon time and says 'I didn't even train and ran a half in 1:30:00." Even though I know the likelihood of that is slim to none, it's still a little bit of drag on the self esteem.  And, that just turned into a bit of a rant...sorry...I shall continue.

After Shattered came on, It made me think of the songs I turn to now.  Carry On by Fun. has got to be one of the most incredible songs I have ever listened to.  Not because of the current trendiness of the band, but  the lyrics are truly powerful.   Lines Like:

'Let your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground, Carry On'
'My head is on fire, but my legs are fine, after all they are mine.'
'Because we are, we are shining stars, we are invincible, we are who we are.  On our darkest day, when we are miles away, so we will come, and we will find our way home.'

I run to forget about the past.  I run to calm the fire in my head.  I run because it makes me feel at home, finally.  This community feels like home.  The people are inspiring, encouraging and non-judgemental.  I should have figured that out after my first full when there were only 20 runners.  The 1st place runner finished approximately 3 hours ahead of me...HOURS....  When I rounded the corner and saw the last straight away of the race, the after party was done, the finish line was torn down, none of the vendors were there anymore, and the only people left were the race crew and like 5 others..one of which was the first place marathoner; Cheering me on as I came across the finish line.  I was 7,000 miles away from 'home,' but, in a sense, I felt like I was temporarily home.  Running has given me a home.

Have a Magical Race

And Magical race it was.

The Walt Disney World Marathon was more enjoyable than I could have ever imagined.  From the moment I stepped off the plane, it was beautiful...the weather, the sites, the people..everything.

I flew in on Saturday Morning and went straight from the airport to the expo at ESPN Wide World of Sports.  The last time I had been to Disney World, we did not come to this facility, and, let me tell you, if you are a sports fan this place is heaven. 

I'm sad to report my lack of exploration of the expo...I'm sure it was wicked awesome, but I was so tired I literally got my number and shirt and left.  I'll take more advantage next year.

Now, I learned many travel dos and don'ts during NZ, but what would be another trip without a major lapse of judgement?  (sidenote: this was another solo trip)

I had decided to travel without a car, relying on the shuttle from the airport and the Disney Buses which would run from all the Disney resorts.  I *thought* I had researched everything thoroughly, but there was a small detail I missed; Downtown Disney was not considered a 'resort,' it is a 'park.'   oops.  I blame this on my 16 year old mind, which was the last to visit DW in the flesh, and only remembered it was called 'downtown' and I figured there would be places to stay in downtown, therefor buses would come to downtown to pick people up...not so much.  Luckily, Saratoga Springs is more-or-less walking distance from downtown Disney and at 3am I made the trek over to Saratoga to ride the charter bus to Epcot.

I would say the only two downsides to the race was the start time and the amount of wait time in the corrals.  We were supposed to be in our corrals by 5am, which I was, but my wave wasn't scheduled to start until 6:25am.  Longest corral wait ever.  But the Fireworks were awesome and everything else after that was awesome.  The race set the bar high for anything else I do.

As the race states in the description, we ran through all of the parks, starting with Magic Kingdom.  I saw pictures of the front runners who hit Magic Kingdom pre-dawn and the castle was still lit with the pretty icicle lights...by the time I got there, daylight was breaking so there wasn't any icicle lights, but is was still very pretty.

The race took many back roads not accessible to the public.  We got to see the water treatment plant..so exciting, I know.

Mile 10 took us to the race car track which was lined with probably close to 100 classic/flipping awesome cars.  I could have stopped and got pictures of every car since they were all so cool, but I snapped a quick picture at the beginning and admired the rest as I ran by...especially the Dancing Ponies at the end of the track...

After the racetrack, we entered Animal Kingdom to celebrate Half Way.  It was a quick run, straight through.  A few animal handlers greeted us at the back entrance with random animals...the sheep sticks out in my mind.  Not sure why.

We hit the highway for awhile, headed towards ESPN's Wide World of Sports.  The had so much stuff on the roads, I didn't get pictures of everything or I would probably still be running.  Mile 17 was the entrance into the WWoS and also when I hit the wall.  I didn't train properly for this and only started it because I'm to stubborn to admit defeat, so it wasn't a matter of if I hit it, but when.

Whilst in the WWoS, we got to run on the track, which is fantastic and also got to take a lap around the Baseball Stadium..forgive me for not remembering who plays there.. :-/ 

The race had said something super exciting would be at mile 20 to celebrate the 20th Anniversary.  I had sort of forgotten this when i was actually running, but took a picture of the 20 mi maker anyways.  It wasn't until after the race and talking to my mom who asked me what the surprise at Mile 20 was.  haha. Oh.  That was what mile 20 was all about.  It seems pretty clear now that I look back at the picture...especially since there were crazy dancer people and all sorts of silly things leading up to that grand stage.

Anyways, once we left the WWoS, we moved on to the final stops of the race, Hollywood Studios, across the walkway and finally to Epcot where the we crossed the finish line.  By the time we reached the WWoS, the parks were starting to open to the public, which was pretty cool.  Half the walkways were blocked for runners, the other half were tourists giving us strange looks...but every so great was the finish line...and crossing it!

 

One of the things I will most remember is all the encouragement from onlookers.  They lifted my spirits when I thought I had hit rock bottom.  Multiple times during the race I was almost in tears, not because of pain, but just pure overwhelming happiness.  I have a gift and I should be grateful every day.  I have a gift of working legs. I have a gift of the ability to travel.  I have the gift of life right now and I plan to take that gift for every second I have it. 

No worse for the wear, I iced my knees when I got back to the hotel and cleaned up for the after party where I got to meet up with 2 college friends whom I hadn't seen in years.  Being able to share the final experiences of the race weekend with people I knew made me wish my mom had been able to come with me. ... so she's doing the Disneyland Half with me. :-D

It was sad to see the night end and the experience coming to a close, but I look forward to next year..and really a few days from now when I get to register for the Dopey Challenge!!!!  So. Excited.

The morning after the race, I received this quote from Runner's World.  If you don't get their Quote of the Day emails, I highly suggest you do.  They have given me inspiration when I didn't think there was any to be found and as a solo runner, sometimes I need just that.

If you can't read it, the quote by Tasya Lacy states:

'I realize that I have been blessed with health and strength to overcome not only the miles on the road, but also overcome the hard times in life when you want to throw in the towel.  When I cross the line now, it is a celebration of the fact that I didn't quit.'

Something I try to instill in all of my students everyday.  Whatever you do, don't quit.  Finish what you start and finish it with pride.

RunDisney

During my recovery time from NZ, I started thinking about the next race I would do.  I wanted to give myself plenty of time to really start from scratch.  I had injured myself pretty bad and chose to run through those injuries in order to finish the race in NZ, but I knew I could do better and FEEL better while I was doing it.

In doing some research I found the RunDinsey series and every review I read about the Disney Marathon was incredible.  So, on April 6th of last year, I signed up for the 2013 Disney World Marathon, which was really the turning point of my running life.

Training started slow.  Since I had 10 months to prepare I didn't want to rush and get injured again.  Lots of 5k distances to get my legs and lungs back in working condition. Once May came around, I was feeling good and wasn't having the continuous problems with my IT band that I was having before.  I had to switched over to gravel and concrete, rather than solid trail running.  To this day, I believe the only reason I finished in NZ was because it was trail.  When June hit, I started having some issues with shin splints so I lowered the miles per week again and then July gave me an unexpected turn.

Insert: Heart Arrhythmia and a randomly Fluttering Atria

When you work your body to its' limits, you start to find its' breaking point.  Add a bunch of stress from school and you get my Heart Arrhythmia.  After a month of being wired and monitored, I was cleared to continue training.  The Arrhythmia was considered 'non-threatening' and though it does have a some affect on my activity, it is more of an annoyance than a hindrance, but I still run with my dog in case I pass out...

I like to tell people that running any distance is more mental than physical.  If you convince yourself you can finish, and you're stubborn like me, there is almost nothing that can stop you. 

Needless to say, between my new position at school as the Head Tennis Coach and the multitude of classes I was in to teach myself how to be the head Tennis Coach, I didn't get much training started until after the Fall Tennis Season was over.  I got a few runs in every now and then, but nothing significant.  I completed two 10 mile runs, but nothing more.  I was depressed and frustrated with myself and also in a state of denial.  I had been so excited about the Disney Marathon and now I needed to decide whether I should even go.

So, here I am, completely unprepared, again, thinking I am the worst example of someone who wants to run a marathon-ever-and what does stubborn me do?...book hotel and airfare....no turning back now.

 What's that Kelly Clarkson song..What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger?
  

Lessons of a Traveling Newbie

When I went to New Zealand, it was the first time I had been out of the country since I was about 10(when we went to Canada...does that even count?) I did this trip by myself and learned so much during my adventure down under.

Pre-Lesson: Never trust the Cell Phone people...

Upon arrival in Auckland I was kind of in a daze from the 17 hours of travel. I forgot to get money at the airport, but figured I would be able to pick some up in the town I was staying in.  My phone had no service, and I would soon find out it would never have service because AT&T people didn't quite tell me everything I needed to know about the International Phone Plan...go figure.

Lesson 1: Always get money from the Airport...

My shuttle took me to the car rental place and I got my car with no issues. My nerves were high, not only because of my first marathon looming less than 24 hours ahead, but also the whole driving on the opposite side of the road thing.  I was so focused on not being on the wrong side of the road and just getting to my destination that I completely forgot about money...food...bathrooms...I got on the road and didn't stop until I arrived in Colville.

Lesson 2: Do research on how Small a town really is...

I mean, I knew the town was small....but this took small to a whole new level.  One store, one school(for all ages), and that is really it.  It's the way New Zealand is outside the city, and it's beautiful, but it definitely made things a little more difficult for this travel newbie.

Lesson 3: Those Chemistry Conversions Are Actually Useful!

After finding my place of stay for the weekend, I ran back over to the store for a few dinner items.  As a runner is concerned, I was looking for a certain number of calories to consume, so the first thing I do is turn the package around and look at how many calories it had...to bad I had forgotten that when we switch over to the metric system, not only does our maeasurement of temp, distance, volume and mass change, but so does the measurement for energy....Know your Joules to Calories Concersion!!! Oops.  As a Chemistry Teacher, I should have known this...but I had forgotten what it was...when you can't be exact, just stuff as much food into your face as you can.

Lesson 4:  Just because you flew 7,000 miles to a far away land to run some random marathon, doesn't mean you are the only one...

The marathon I ran only had 20 people participating.  It was the inaugural year for the full 42.2k distance and before it started we had a small welcome meeting, letting us know the conditions of the trail, and other useful information.  They also introduced me and welcomed me to New Zealand, which was so kind and afterwards an older gentleman in a Marathon Maniac shirt, trotted up to me and said, 'Where in Texas are you from?!  I'm from Houston!'  Small world! :-D ... but, travel wise, I still won, because he was living there for business.

Traveling alone definitely had its perks.  The race crew, a very close knit family, invited me back to their cabin to celebrate the end of the race.  It was nice to relax and chill out with them.  They reminded me of all my college friends back at A&M.  Just a wonderful group of people.

Lesson 5: When you know you're going to be Exhausted, Triple read your Itinerary BEFORE you run and set alarms and reminders....and also rent a GPS with the car...

 Yeah...rookie mistake...completely thought my plane departed at 5:30pm...after getting lost in Auckland on the way back, I finally got to the car rental place and pulled out my itinerary...Arrival in Syndey, AUS: 5:30pm  Depart Auckland, NZ 3:30pm...it was 2:50....and I wasn't even to the airport yet.

Lesson 6: The people of New Zealand and Quantas Airlines are AMAZING

Miracle Makers... they made it happen...and help a plane for this silly little American.  I will always be grateful. 

Where the Tale Began

In November of 2011, I decided to start training for my first marathon. Originally, I was going to enter the New Orleans Rock n Roll Marathon. The week after I was planning on taking my ultimate bucket list trip to Sydney, Australia over my school's spring break.

After calculating costs of travel, and doing some research, I realized it would be very similar, expense wise, to stop in New Zealand and complete a marathon which was scheduled during the first weekend of spring break. So began, 'The Road to New Zealand.' If you have any interest in following my 18 weeks of injury and self doubt, you can read through www.runnewzealand.blogspot.com

If you ever have the chance to do a run with Total Sports, based out of Aukland, New Zealand, I highly recommend it. The organizers are fantastic and the race was just amazing. I'll never forget it. If you are highly dependent on aid stations, then I would not recommend it. This was an extremely rugged, trail run and most of the race was inaccessible to vehicles which made for very few aid stations, four to be exact. But, I carried my own water and did just fine. Only 20 of us ran it, and all of us finished.

From that point forward, I decided to use running as an excuse to travel, but it has become so much more. I do these adventures on my own and I have really discovered more of what I am capable of in the last year and a half than I had since I began college back in 2004. I have shed tears, I have ran through injuries, I've had so much self-doubt, but in the end I always find the will to succeed and finish.

To Finish is to Win.

These are my tales, my adventures and my life.


A view of the town the race started and finished in. Colville, New Zealand
Views from the run. Sea Level, 200M and 400M