Georgia on my mind

Easter weekend, the weekend of March 21st, we were in Northern Georgia with friends. The idea was to have a mini vacation and squeeze in some good mountain training runs. Well, we got some hard runs in alright. Friday we did a 5.7 mile run which was about 1/2 up 1/2 down, it was challenging but didn't get the best of us. I finished feeling strong and in shape!

On Saturday however, was a different story. Our 10 mile run was extremely challenging, the first hour was up a mountain. When we got to the top the views were amazing. The downhill was nice, but overall one of the toughest runs I've done. During that first hour I definitely felt defeated, it was tough!

The picture you see above is a view from the top of Springer Mountain. I went with Bill, Tucker (my running pup), and some good friends Beth, Aaron, their little boy Leon, and a friend Kailey (Beth, Tucker and Leon are pictured on the right). It was just a 2 mile hike but it was one of the highlights of the trip. We were able to hike to the start of the Appalachian Trail (AT), which I have been fascinated with since reading a Walk in the Woods. My plan is to start the AT at Springer Mountain in March of '09 and hike to the NC/TN border. All in all the trail is over 2,000 miles and runs from Georgia to Maine, but my plan is to do about 6-8 weeks on it rather than the 6 months it would take for a thru-hike.

Now we are back at home and I am dealing with another injury. Came up suddenly on last Saturday's run. I think I have figured out what it is, and without going into the details I believe it is subluxated cuboid syndrome (if you are really interested see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuboid_Syndrome). Of course this comes from my overpronation problem, that has caused almost all of my running injuries. But, as always I am determined not to let my physical "deformities" get the best of me, and to find a work around to get me back out there. After some research I've rigged up a small pad to place under my cuboid bone in my foot which is said to help, so hopefully it does, otherwise I'll bring in a professional.

I'll keep you posted!
Happy Running!

Thanks to God!

Couple of things, both of which I thank God for...

First, for now, I am pain free! Which is amazing after re-reading my frustrated last post. I don't really have much of an explanation, so I'll just count it as a true blessing!

Second, refers to the picture in this post. On Saturday the 8th, Megan and I had planned on running our 16 miler in O'Leno State Park, reportedly they had a well marked trail system where we could do our long run. Well, upon arriving we studied the map and were a bit confused on the reported trail distances but we ventured into the woods with my 16oz gatorade bottle and 4 gels. Over 3 hours later we made it back to the car as the sun was setting and dark was falling on the park. We got a little lost on the trail, which caused about 15 minutes of panic, because the woods were getting dark and we both have terrible night vision (and of course we weren't wearing our glasses). After about 7 minutes of personal panic, to which I tried to hide from my friend, I prayed for safety and peace.

We also ran 18.5 last Saturday, the 15th. We traveled down to Clermont and ran up the only "mountain" in Florida, Sugarloaf Mountain. To show you how desperate we are to find elevation, we drove 2 hours for a 300 ft. climb. But, not to fear, we found lots of other hills on our route, and were completely exhausted at the end of our 3 hour run!

This weekend we head up to the REAL eastern mountains of Georgia. We are renting a cabin outside Blue Ridge, GA, near the NC border. Elevation here we come, quads get ready!

My Unsung Hero

It is challenging being a "marathoner" and long distance runner sometimes, but the toughest job falls on my faithful husband. Every race he can he gets up at the crack of dawn with me to come out and cheer me on. He listens to all of my complaining about all of my aches and pains. He doesn't say a word when I vow that 'this race' (whatever race it is at the time) will be my last, only to hear me talk about the new race I've signed up for. All the hours I train, the miles I put on the car traveling to fun new training sites, and the money I spend on race entries, shoes, and electrolyte replacement drinks/foods, get nothing but support and understanding from Bill. And, all of that carb-loading he must endure with me, oh wait, I think he really enjoys that part! All of this without ANY glory. Bill is without a doubt my best friend and biggest supporter. I am 100% confident that I would not be doing any of this if it wasn't for his consistent love.

Running Update:
It's been awhile since I've "blogged", I must have been enjoying my birthday celebrationS (yes I was spoiled this year!) and focused on home improvement projects. As the birthday season has wrapped up and the home is starting to get sorted out... I'm back online.

Running is going pretty well. A couple weeks ago I ran the Gainesville 1/2 Marathon, and PR'd (running lingo for - I set a new Personal Record), so that was exciting. My folks came up and we had a great visit. I kind of took the week off of running before the race hoping to give my tendinitis issues time to chill, with the exception of 1 leisurely 3 miler, so I hope that explains why I was ridiculously sore the few days following the race. I never really get sore anymore, unless I do something out of the ordinary, so it felt kind of foreign. This past weekend Megan and I ran 14+ miles of trails and I felt really good. But, then this week hit. I ran Monday and experienced pretty extreme calf pain, which I attribute to my bum knee that I've been favoring. I also had some pretty sharp pains in my quad which followed up the groin. Last night the pain was so bad I could barely walk... so that was pretty discouraging.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty frustrated. The miles that I'm doing are really normal for me, my training has pretty much been by the book, but my body is barking at me for sure. I think this third marathon will be my last long distance road race for awhile, I hate to admit it but I think my legs need a break from concrete. I go to a PT today who is also a massage therapist, so hopefully he can work out some kinks.

Having said all this, I still am REALLY excited to be doing the Big Sur Marathon! I am constantly thinking of the kids in Kenya, 8 of whom ran the Kilimanjaro Marathon this past week (20 had to stay home because of visa problems, so frustrating), their training and terrain is way more challenging than anything I'll ever face, so it keeps me going. Just to give you an idea, their 20 mile training run consisted of over 2,300 ft change in elevation, and a normal run for them is at 6,000 ft! All of which is dirt and rock. Yeah, puts things in perspective for me!

Bye for now! Your support and donations keep brining tears to my eyes, thank you for joining me on this journey!!