Went running by the lake for the first time in months Tuesday night. I made it about 2 miles before any sharp pains in my shin. My doctor told me to stop running at the first sign of pain, so I walked a bit longer.
At first I wasn't going to go. I was sitting in my apartment in full running gear, petrified. I couldn't get my body out the door. All the old fears of feeling stupid and being worried about how I look when running came rushing back to me. I went and got the ziploc bag I saved with words of inspiration from last year's marathon, took each one out, and read them all. Seeing the amazing things my friends and even strangers said about me running made me realize it didn't matter how I looked, it just mattered that I was out there. So I tucked in my favorite sage advice in my running pack, and walked out the door.
Running, music pulsing through my body, feeling strong as my feet pounded against the pavement, felt so amazing. As I was finishing the run and waiting for the bus, a rain shower exploded around me, and here I was, standing on the beautiful museum campus, the Chicago skyline behind me, under a giant oak tree soaking wet and grinning like an idiot, completely in love with my running and that moment. I just forgot how alive running makes me feel. It just felt so amazing.
It feels good to be back. Run Lisa Run is back on the course...
Now if only this damn leg will stop acting up. Hrmph. Come on feet (well in this case shin), don't fail me now!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
is this thing still on?
Sigh. I never could follow through on keeping up with things like blogs, resolutions, ambitions, or running.
I was suppose to start training for the marathon last week. I still have yet to run. I had an MRI done on my still bothersome left leg, and they told me I should get some rehab, that it wasn't cracked or fractured, but it was inflamed. I don't have money or time for rehab, so I'm hoping for the best. My doctor says as long as I ice it and stop running if I have intense pain, I should be alright.
I really need to get back into routine and order, and back to running could do just that. My life has just been complete chaos thus far this year, and I need to get order restored.
So welcome back Lisa to your running blog. Get your butt in gear, lace up your shoes, and back out on the lake front you go to running.
Chicago Marathon 2008 training...here I come...
I was suppose to start training for the marathon last week. I still have yet to run. I had an MRI done on my still bothersome left leg, and they told me I should get some rehab, that it wasn't cracked or fractured, but it was inflamed. I don't have money or time for rehab, so I'm hoping for the best. My doctor says as long as I ice it and stop running if I have intense pain, I should be alright.
I really need to get back into routine and order, and back to running could do just that. My life has just been complete chaos thus far this year, and I need to get order restored.
So welcome back Lisa to your running blog. Get your butt in gear, lace up your shoes, and back out on the lake front you go to running.
Chicago Marathon 2008 training...here I come...
Monday, March 31, 2008
Well, I'm not dead...
Hello there internet people that actually sometimes read this site.
I'm back from the dead, or so it seems. I've just been having grand adventures.
I recently, as in the past two weeks, moved back to Chicago! Oh crazy times, crazy life. I just wasn't feeling NYC. It's a lovely city to visit for me, but not to live in. I'm a true Midwest girl, and since things are starting to pick up with my own company, I headed back to fully start things rolling. For those not in the know, I graduated with a degree in music management and marketing, during a time when the music industry is in great peril and falling apart. So needless to say starting my company (albeit being a crazy idea) maybe the best way to save this dying industry right now. I left behind a great label I was interning for in NYC, but I'm facing this scary world head on, and I think sometimes the scarier and braver the choice, the better the reward in the end.
So everything is new and unknown and exciting, but I'm so glad to be back in sweet home Chicago in my new place! Now if only the weather was better for running, I'd be set :)
So I've been slacking on the running, which is NO GOOD since the 1/2 marathon is in 32 days. Eek! BUT I am going to Fleet Feet to try to participate in the Jeff Galloway easy run tonight. Yup, the Jeff Galloway who popularized the Galloway method. He's leading an easy run, then speaking about his method and using it to better train for marathons. Should give me a mixed dose of guilt for being lazy, and also pump me up to get back on track. Fun times, fun times.
So back to work I go, which is a very odd thing, since I work for myself now. It's very strange to say "ok Lisa, it's 9 am, time to go set down and do your office stuff and not play around for the next few hours." Looks like I'm growing up, eh?
Take care, and I promise I'll be posting more again soon!
Hugs and Kisses from Chicago!
-Lisa
I'm back from the dead, or so it seems. I've just been having grand adventures.
I recently, as in the past two weeks, moved back to Chicago! Oh crazy times, crazy life. I just wasn't feeling NYC. It's a lovely city to visit for me, but not to live in. I'm a true Midwest girl, and since things are starting to pick up with my own company, I headed back to fully start things rolling. For those not in the know, I graduated with a degree in music management and marketing, during a time when the music industry is in great peril and falling apart. So needless to say starting my company (albeit being a crazy idea) maybe the best way to save this dying industry right now. I left behind a great label I was interning for in NYC, but I'm facing this scary world head on, and I think sometimes the scarier and braver the choice, the better the reward in the end.
So everything is new and unknown and exciting, but I'm so glad to be back in sweet home Chicago in my new place! Now if only the weather was better for running, I'd be set :)
So I've been slacking on the running, which is NO GOOD since the 1/2 marathon is in 32 days. Eek! BUT I am going to Fleet Feet to try to participate in the Jeff Galloway easy run tonight. Yup, the Jeff Galloway who popularized the Galloway method. He's leading an easy run, then speaking about his method and using it to better train for marathons. Should give me a mixed dose of guilt for being lazy, and also pump me up to get back on track. Fun times, fun times.
So back to work I go, which is a very odd thing, since I work for myself now. It's very strange to say "ok Lisa, it's 9 am, time to go set down and do your office stuff and not play around for the next few hours." Looks like I'm growing up, eh?
Take care, and I promise I'll be posting more again soon!
Hugs and Kisses from Chicago!
-Lisa
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Lisa vs. the dreaded bridesmaid dress
Sometimes things can seem very daunting.
I am in a wedding on June 21st. Yup. A good friend called and asked me to be a bridesmaid for her upcoming wedding, and since the lovely couple are going to have to rush the wedding a bit (he's got a job and they have to make a big move for it, plus they've been dating since our freshman year of high school, so I think we won't miss much on the planning, haha), so it's June 21st.
And the dress we shall wear? Strapless.
The fear of God is now coming down upon me. Do you know how much effort and coaxing it took me to wear a one piece bathing suit this past summer? And I still kept most of myself covered in the damn thing. I've never worn a strapless outfit of any kind. I am fat. I have fat arms. No one needs to see them. Oh god, I'm about to hyperventilate...
so yeah, that has been the thought process the past few hours since I got the e-mail with the "what do you think about these dresses?" link in it. I think I'm gonna look like a whale next to the size 2 and size 8 or 10 bridesmaid. Blimpy McGee, here I come down the isle, waddle waddle waddle.
As strong as I've become since I started running, as much as I've changed and realized that I am a beautiful women despite my size and that I am amazing, these negative horrible thoughts still pop in my head from time to time. Hey, I know, nobody is perfect, but I've just had a long history of dealing with body image, so it's a pretty big hurdle I've been jumping over (and I'm getting there!) the last almost year since I started this crazy journey.
So, enough bellyaching. It's just a dress. And I WAS fat, I'm just working on it at this point. Hell, I'm currently typing this while wearing jeans that are four years old and until now haven't worn in years. I have all the way until June 21st to make myself even more snazzy. The day isn't about me, and no one should or will care what I look like, but I still want to look my best for my friends, because they will cherish these photos and wedding video forever. I want to look nice for them, and a bit for my sanity too.
SO FOLKS... Who here has some killer techniques to work on my upper arms? What's the best type of exercise to gets these puppies looking better? Any suggestions?
If this doesn't keep me getting up and running in the morning, I don't know what will. I think the marathon is less scary to me then a bridesmaid dress, because in running we are expected to look ridiculous in our outfit, and who cares at that point, we are amazing athletes. But I'll be damned if a bridesmaid dress is going to beat me down.
I am in a wedding on June 21st. Yup. A good friend called and asked me to be a bridesmaid for her upcoming wedding, and since the lovely couple are going to have to rush the wedding a bit (he's got a job and they have to make a big move for it, plus they've been dating since our freshman year of high school, so I think we won't miss much on the planning, haha), so it's June 21st.
And the dress we shall wear? Strapless.
The fear of God is now coming down upon me. Do you know how much effort and coaxing it took me to wear a one piece bathing suit this past summer? And I still kept most of myself covered in the damn thing. I've never worn a strapless outfit of any kind. I am fat. I have fat arms. No one needs to see them. Oh god, I'm about to hyperventilate...
so yeah, that has been the thought process the past few hours since I got the e-mail with the "what do you think about these dresses?" link in it. I think I'm gonna look like a whale next to the size 2 and size 8 or 10 bridesmaid. Blimpy McGee, here I come down the isle, waddle waddle waddle.
As strong as I've become since I started running, as much as I've changed and realized that I am a beautiful women despite my size and that I am amazing, these negative horrible thoughts still pop in my head from time to time. Hey, I know, nobody is perfect, but I've just had a long history of dealing with body image, so it's a pretty big hurdle I've been jumping over (and I'm getting there!) the last almost year since I started this crazy journey.
So, enough bellyaching. It's just a dress. And I WAS fat, I'm just working on it at this point. Hell, I'm currently typing this while wearing jeans that are four years old and until now haven't worn in years. I have all the way until June 21st to make myself even more snazzy. The day isn't about me, and no one should or will care what I look like, but I still want to look my best for my friends, because they will cherish these photos and wedding video forever. I want to look nice for them, and a bit for my sanity too.
SO FOLKS... Who here has some killer techniques to work on my upper arms? What's the best type of exercise to gets these puppies looking better? Any suggestions?
If this doesn't keep me getting up and running in the morning, I don't know what will. I think the marathon is less scary to me then a bridesmaid dress, because in running we are expected to look ridiculous in our outfit, and who cares at that point, we are amazing athletes. But I'll be damned if a bridesmaid dress is going to beat me down.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
And we're back!
Well, just got home from Coney Island, and it was desolate, but safe, so all is well!
Actually, I think I may have found one of my new favorite spots in NYC, especially to run. It's barren, retro, a bit depressing, but totally beautiful. Granted you're running on a boardwalk, which somehow I feel wood planks aren't the best surface to run on, but you have a great view (one side is the ocean, the other side the pier and the people) and it's a nice path to do a decent size run on.
And the best part? MY LEG IS OK!!! Yay! It really hurt around .80 mile and 1.1 mile, but I ran through it, and it subsided. I also did more of an interval type run, which I think helped. It made me slower overall on pace, but it got me farther without feeling pain or feeling tired at the end. Here is what I did...
Every 1o minute mark, I would power walk for 3 minutes (so run until 10 minutes, walk to 13, run to 20, walk to 23, run to 30, walk to 33) and I did this all the way up to the 1 hour point, and then I just ran the rest of my workout, which wasn't far at all. In the next few long runs I'm going to slowly decrease to walking for 2 minutes instead of 3, and then walking 1 minute, and then try to space them out farther as I go along. I think this is a nice way to soften the shock of running again on my body, especially on my screwy shin.
I also noticed my stride more, and watched my posture while I was running, so I'm working slowly on improving my technique. Here are the final stats for my first "long run" of 1/2 training:
4 Miles in 1 hour 8 minutes and 3 seconds
Average Pace was 16:59 min/mi (damn you 3 minute walking pace cramping my style!)
Calories: 821
I'm also really stretching a lot more in general, and starting a plan to work on my core, since the weight I'm loosing is coming off in odd places (belly be gone, cmon!) and a tighter core helps you run better.
So yeah, I'm stepping my game up in a sense. I spent yesterday and tonight I'll finish combing through some old Runners World and some other books, and I'm really making a more detailed training plan. Higdon has a good base for training, but I've got to do more to really improve. I've got three months to get ready for the 1/2, four months to get in better shape for being in a wedding (oh boy, bridesmaid dress), and then October is the next big date!
Feeling good, feeling confident, and glad to be back in the groove of running :)
-Lisa
PS I submitted an application to volunteer in April at the Boston marathon! I figure if I'm still living out in NYC at that point, I'll take the bus up to Boston, and help out! I'd love to actually be a spectator instead of running in a race, and so I put in my bid (although I'm hoping I'll have to decline and hopefully be back in Chicago). I picked my first choice as being a mile marker. Haha. How awesome would that be? The description says I stand with a mile marker sign for on the side of the road for the racers to see. So I can cheer them on. Yay!
Actually, I think I may have found one of my new favorite spots in NYC, especially to run. It's barren, retro, a bit depressing, but totally beautiful. Granted you're running on a boardwalk, which somehow I feel wood planks aren't the best surface to run on, but you have a great view (one side is the ocean, the other side the pier and the people) and it's a nice path to do a decent size run on.
And the best part? MY LEG IS OK!!! Yay! It really hurt around .80 mile and 1.1 mile, but I ran through it, and it subsided. I also did more of an interval type run, which I think helped. It made me slower overall on pace, but it got me farther without feeling pain or feeling tired at the end. Here is what I did...
Every 1o minute mark, I would power walk for 3 minutes (so run until 10 minutes, walk to 13, run to 20, walk to 23, run to 30, walk to 33) and I did this all the way up to the 1 hour point, and then I just ran the rest of my workout, which wasn't far at all. In the next few long runs I'm going to slowly decrease to walking for 2 minutes instead of 3, and then walking 1 minute, and then try to space them out farther as I go along. I think this is a nice way to soften the shock of running again on my body, especially on my screwy shin.
I also noticed my stride more, and watched my posture while I was running, so I'm working slowly on improving my technique. Here are the final stats for my first "long run" of 1/2 training:
4 Miles in 1 hour 8 minutes and 3 seconds
Average Pace was 16:59 min/mi (damn you 3 minute walking pace cramping my style!)
Calories: 821
I'm also really stretching a lot more in general, and starting a plan to work on my core, since the weight I'm loosing is coming off in odd places (belly be gone, cmon!) and a tighter core helps you run better.
So yeah, I'm stepping my game up in a sense. I spent yesterday and tonight I'll finish combing through some old Runners World and some other books, and I'm really making a more detailed training plan. Higdon has a good base for training, but I've got to do more to really improve. I've got three months to get ready for the 1/2, four months to get in better shape for being in a wedding (oh boy, bridesmaid dress), and then October is the next big date!
Feeling good, feeling confident, and glad to be back in the groove of running :)
-Lisa
PS I submitted an application to volunteer in April at the Boston marathon! I figure if I'm still living out in NYC at that point, I'll take the bus up to Boston, and help out! I'd love to actually be a spectator instead of running in a race, and so I put in my bid (although I'm hoping I'll have to decline and hopefully be back in Chicago). I picked my first choice as being a mile marker. Haha. How awesome would that be? The description says I stand with a mile marker sign for on the side of the road for the racers to see. So I can cheer them on. Yay!
If I don't return to blogging...
Um, call the police? Haha. I'm going for an adventure for my first "long run" of training. Heading out to Coney Island to run on the pier, since my "long run" is a very short 4 miles.
So yeah, time to adventure to run in a place I've never been that may or may not be sketchy? We'll see! Good times, good times...
I'll update when I get home later with the beautiful sites of Coney Island, and with a brand new addition to revamp my training plan!!!
-Lisa
So yeah, time to adventure to run in a place I've never been that may or may not be sketchy? We'll see! Good times, good times...
I'll update when I get home later with the beautiful sites of Coney Island, and with a brand new addition to revamp my training plan!!!
-Lisa
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
and so it begins...
Ah, nothing like the first run of the season. Especially when you can only muster up through half of it :(
Yup. 3 mile run turned into 1.5 miles. More like 1 mile run and .5 mile walk then run then walk. Boo. But I got over a mile, which is great! I haven't done over that since my leg started hurting. And it felt pretty good at the start. I just have to get back in the swing of things.
I also chopped up and froze my bananas the other night, so protein shake season is SO BACK! Yay! I'm not gonna lie, I sort of miss the tasty recipe me and Dad came up with, so it will be a nice welcome back, and affordable for my broke budget. So affordable, I may start living off protein shakes alone, good times.
So yeah, one run down, many more to go. I'm heading to bed now so I can get up and run. See, I'm being such a good little runner, go me!
Hope everyone is keeping warm back in Chicago, and keep running!
Yup. 3 mile run turned into 1.5 miles. More like 1 mile run and .5 mile walk then run then walk. Boo. But I got over a mile, which is great! I haven't done over that since my leg started hurting. And it felt pretty good at the start. I just have to get back in the swing of things.
I also chopped up and froze my bananas the other night, so protein shake season is SO BACK! Yay! I'm not gonna lie, I sort of miss the tasty recipe me and Dad came up with, so it will be a nice welcome back, and affordable for my broke budget. So affordable, I may start living off protein shakes alone, good times.
So yeah, one run down, many more to go. I'm heading to bed now so I can get up and run. See, I'm being such a good little runner, go me!
Hope everyone is keeping warm back in Chicago, and keep running!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
OH! One other little fun thing...
So last week I got an e-mail in my inbox with the following in it...
HEHEHEHE!!! I qualified for a starting corral?!?! Um, so my dad thinks that had to be a computer glitch, because we both qualified. I reminded him that we may have qualified in the very back of the last corral, or at least I'm really hoping that is the case, and not some computer glitch. Regardless, it made one chubby girl (hey, I'm working on that part) with big dreams one very happy lady :)
Too bad I moved, I totally would have ran in the Shuffle and used my starting time, regardless of glitch or not, which could have made for an interesting race? haha.
"Congratulations! Based on past performance in the Shamrock Shuffle, Chicago Distance Classic Half Marathon and/or Chicago Marathon, you qualify for Wave 1 and a Start Corral (Top 100 or Corral A-D) at the 2008 Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K. If you have not already registered, you can register now to ensure your spot in the 2008 event. Registration has already exceeded 22,000, and will close when the maximum 30,000 participants has been reached."
HEHEHEHE!!! I qualified for a starting corral?!?! Um, so my dad thinks that had to be a computer glitch, because we both qualified. I reminded him that we may have qualified in the very back of the last corral, or at least I'm really hoping that is the case, and not some computer glitch. Regardless, it made one chubby girl (hey, I'm working on that part) with big dreams one very happy lady :)
Too bad I moved, I totally would have ran in the Shuffle and used my starting time, regardless of glitch or not, which could have made for an interesting race? haha.
Here we go again...
Well, hello again. Since I last saw the interweb, I have been resting the good old shin, trying not to piss it off because tomorrow starts the longest period of running EVER!
Ok, so I'm being a tad bit dramatic, but tomorrow marks the start of 1/2 marathon training. Hurrah! It's a bit of a lackluster start, with just stretching and strength on Mondays, but Tuesday I get to run 3 miles, so we'll see how the shins do then, and see what type of training the next few months will be (either "yay my shin is fine" or "WTF GET BETTER LEG" months of training).
Feel free to join along in the training, as I mentioned in the previous post. What's more fun than running a ridiculous amount and conversing about it online with a stranger, right?
So back to why tomorrow marks the longest period of running EVER...
You're probably saying, "what are you talking about Lisa, this is just a damn 1/2 marathon, no biggie."
Well folks, did I mention that I merge directly into marathon training after Indy 1/2 marathon? Yup. I do. As of tomorrow I will be consistently training until mid October. Wowie. That is a long time.
But I digress, I am looking forward to the challenge and journey of training again, and especially excited because I have a few friends (and good old Dad again) training with me! Yay!
So keep Me, my Dad, my friends (Erin, Sammie, David) in your thoughts and running prayers, and keep checking back in, because I'll be back blogging as of now. VACATION FROM RUNNING IS OVER! GET A MOVE ON LISA!
Are you pumped yet just reading this? Because I sure am!
Ok, off to bed and then up to do my S&S (stretch and strength) before work! Here we go...
-Lisa
PS Me and Dad got spots in the Chicago 2008 Marathon already , so hopefully I'll see everyone there :)
Ok, so I'm being a tad bit dramatic, but tomorrow marks the start of 1/2 marathon training. Hurrah! It's a bit of a lackluster start, with just stretching and strength on Mondays, but Tuesday I get to run 3 miles, so we'll see how the shins do then, and see what type of training the next few months will be (either "yay my shin is fine" or "WTF GET BETTER LEG" months of training).
Feel free to join along in the training, as I mentioned in the previous post. What's more fun than running a ridiculous amount and conversing about it online with a stranger, right?
So back to why tomorrow marks the longest period of running EVER...
You're probably saying, "what are you talking about Lisa, this is just a damn 1/2 marathon, no biggie."
Well folks, did I mention that I merge directly into marathon training after Indy 1/2 marathon? Yup. I do. As of tomorrow I will be consistently training until mid October. Wowie. That is a long time.
But I digress, I am looking forward to the challenge and journey of training again, and especially excited because I have a few friends (and good old Dad again) training with me! Yay!
So keep Me, my Dad, my friends (Erin, Sammie, David) in your thoughts and running prayers, and keep checking back in, because I'll be back blogging as of now. VACATION FROM RUNNING IS OVER! GET A MOVE ON LISA!
Are you pumped yet just reading this? Because I sure am!
Ok, off to bed and then up to do my S&S (stretch and strength) before work! Here we go...
-Lisa
PS Me and Dad got spots in the Chicago 2008 Marathon already , so hopefully I'll see everyone there :)
Monday, January 14, 2008
Back in the saddle?
Well, I finally got to run on some running hollowed ground, and boy did it kick my ass! So I figured what better a way to spend my first Saturday as a New York City resident by having a nice run in Central Park, right? WRONG. Well, not so bad that it warrants all caps wrong, but things didn’t go as nicely as planned.
Have no fear folks, I didn’t get mugged or anything (the worse case scenario my mom envisions, she keeps watching too much Law & Order: SVU), but it was no normal run for me. Why? Because Central Park has something Chicago doesn’t have: hills. Yup. I never ran on hills, ever. The lakeshore path was pretty flat, as were the trails around my old place, so this was a whole new bag of tricks. And let me just state that I have the utmost respect now for people that run a very hilly course.
So anyways, I didn’t even finish my 2 miles run. Granted, I haven’t run in a few weeks, so I’m a bit out of shape anyways. I stopped running so much, because I got a wicked painful case of shin splints. It hurt like hell, but I stayed off high impact workouts (like running) for a bit, and I’m glad to report that my shins did not hurt during my Central Park debut! The left one hurts when it rains or when the temperature drops (I’m assuming this has some sort of correlation, otherwise I just sound like some old person saying “I can feel rain comin in my bones kiddies!”), otherwise the major pain has stopped. So yay for non-hurting shins! YAY! But boo for being a lazy butt and not going the full 2 miles that I wanted to do. BOO!
Anyways, I’m finishing getting settled, and going to try to get into the swing of a running schedule soon. I’ve looked up and found two runners associations in Brooklyn, and found a few ads for running partners on the New York Road Runners Club website, so hopefully I’ll get in with some runners up here, feel more at home.
But the BIG NEWS is that I start training for the Indianapolis Mini Marathon soon! And I’ve got 5 friends back home training with me! So I’ll have someone besides my Dad to bitch too about my training schedule, haha. I think majority of us are following Hal Higdon’s ½ marathon training program, so feel free to jump in his program (http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/novice.htm ) and join in with us! I also plan on really trying to work on setting and maintaining a pace, and trying to learn and apply some running techniques to my program, rather than my past marathon attempt of just shuffling along and trying not to die.
So there ya go folks (all five of you that read this site, haha)! I’m back with a vengeance! So keep checking in. I’m a lonely single girl in NYC with no one I know, so god knows I’ll have plenty of running time on my hands ☺
Love,
Lisa
PS To date I’ve lost 3 toenails. Haha. Just in case your keeping tabs. I’m just so hardcore, aren’t I?
Have no fear folks, I didn’t get mugged or anything (the worse case scenario my mom envisions, she keeps watching too much Law & Order: SVU), but it was no normal run for me. Why? Because Central Park has something Chicago doesn’t have: hills. Yup. I never ran on hills, ever. The lakeshore path was pretty flat, as were the trails around my old place, so this was a whole new bag of tricks. And let me just state that I have the utmost respect now for people that run a very hilly course.
So anyways, I didn’t even finish my 2 miles run. Granted, I haven’t run in a few weeks, so I’m a bit out of shape anyways. I stopped running so much, because I got a wicked painful case of shin splints. It hurt like hell, but I stayed off high impact workouts (like running) for a bit, and I’m glad to report that my shins did not hurt during my Central Park debut! The left one hurts when it rains or when the temperature drops (I’m assuming this has some sort of correlation, otherwise I just sound like some old person saying “I can feel rain comin in my bones kiddies!”), otherwise the major pain has stopped. So yay for non-hurting shins! YAY! But boo for being a lazy butt and not going the full 2 miles that I wanted to do. BOO!
Anyways, I’m finishing getting settled, and going to try to get into the swing of a running schedule soon. I’ve looked up and found two runners associations in Brooklyn, and found a few ads for running partners on the New York Road Runners Club website, so hopefully I’ll get in with some runners up here, feel more at home.
But the BIG NEWS is that I start training for the Indianapolis Mini Marathon soon! And I’ve got 5 friends back home training with me! So I’ll have someone besides my Dad to bitch too about my training schedule, haha. I think majority of us are following Hal Higdon’s ½ marathon training program, so feel free to jump in his program (http://www.halhigdon.com
So there ya go folks (all five of you that read this site, haha)! I’m back with a vengeance! So keep checking in. I’m a lonely single girl in NYC with no one I know, so god knows I’ll have plenty of running time on my hands ☺
Love,
Lisa
PS To date I’ve lost 3 toenails. Haha. Just in case your keeping tabs. I’m just so hardcore, aren’t I?
Thursday, January 10, 2008
I'm Still Standing...
Yup. Been a while, right?
Sorry for the delay people that actually still read this site (are they any, haha), I've been a bit busy.
Busy you ask? Well that is no excuse Lisa....
except it is. Because I've been busy...
MOVING TO NEW YORK CITY.
Yup. Flew in on Sunday, found a place, moved in a few hours ago. All of this NYC nonsense was started, decided, and done in less than a month. I literally flew out here, did some internship interviews, said "fuck it" and threw caution to the wind, packed my life up, condensed my life into two suitcases, flew out here.
Well, what I really came here for was two internships. I was offered three, and the job prospects and opportunities in the music industry are just greater in NYC over Chicago. And if I'm gonna jump, it's now or never.
So I'm interning now for two different record labels. Yes, I am nuts and moved to New York to work two jobs that don't pay. I also had no place to live when I got here. Crashed at a friends for a few days until I finally found a place that will do for now. It was the only place I felt safe walking home to from the train. Things are totally rougher in NYC then I ever had in Chicago.
So yeah, that is the big news and explanation of my absence. Everything is turned upside down, and my life has completely changed in a matter of days. I went from my two decent jobs and my lovely beach front apartment living alone and happy, to two no paying jobs, in need of a pt paying job, living in an apartment with people I don't know in a tiny room. Sigh. I know I'm being a Debbie Downer, it's just all a total shock. But I do live in a relatively safe area, and my roommates (a couple) seem nice. And I can always make any room feel like home. I'll be ok once I get my bearings.
Life is a grand adventure folks, and I am fully living it. Once I get back into the swing of things, I'll be in touch about RUNNING!!! The nice thing is I'm a short train ride from Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and I also have Central Park that I can do long runs in, so I'm really excited about that! Now if only I can find me a running partner, I'll be set.
Hope all is well in everyones crazy life, take care, and stay tuned!
Lisa
Sorry for the delay people that actually still read this site (are they any, haha), I've been a bit busy.
Busy you ask? Well that is no excuse Lisa....
except it is. Because I've been busy...
MOVING TO NEW YORK CITY.
Yup. Flew in on Sunday, found a place, moved in a few hours ago. All of this NYC nonsense was started, decided, and done in less than a month. I literally flew out here, did some internship interviews, said "fuck it" and threw caution to the wind, packed my life up, condensed my life into two suitcases, flew out here.
Well, what I really came here for was two internships. I was offered three, and the job prospects and opportunities in the music industry are just greater in NYC over Chicago. And if I'm gonna jump, it's now or never.
So I'm interning now for two different record labels. Yes, I am nuts and moved to New York to work two jobs that don't pay. I also had no place to live when I got here. Crashed at a friends for a few days until I finally found a place that will do for now. It was the only place I felt safe walking home to from the train. Things are totally rougher in NYC then I ever had in Chicago.
So yeah, that is the big news and explanation of my absence. Everything is turned upside down, and my life has completely changed in a matter of days. I went from my two decent jobs and my lovely beach front apartment living alone and happy, to two no paying jobs, in need of a pt paying job, living in an apartment with people I don't know in a tiny room. Sigh. I know I'm being a Debbie Downer, it's just all a total shock. But I do live in a relatively safe area, and my roommates (a couple) seem nice. And I can always make any room feel like home. I'll be ok once I get my bearings.
Life is a grand adventure folks, and I am fully living it. Once I get back into the swing of things, I'll be in touch about RUNNING!!! The nice thing is I'm a short train ride from Prospect Park in Brooklyn, and I also have Central Park that I can do long runs in, so I'm really excited about that! Now if only I can find me a running partner, I'll be set.
Hope all is well in everyones crazy life, take care, and stay tuned!
Lisa
Friday, November 9, 2007
I'm on the phone with Lisa as I type...
"No one is awake and I had to tell someone! Dude, remember how I said my toenail was all bruised after the marathon? IT JUST FELL OFF."
"LISA, YOU NEED TO BLOG THIS RIGHT NOW! RIGHT NOW!"
"No, I am not blogging right now! I'm trying to figure out what to do with it!"
"I'M BLOGGING IT FOR YOU!"
"I kinda want to take a picture and put it on my blog. 'This is my toenail...'"
That's the gist of our conversation right now.
"Ahhh, toenail....RIP."
"LISA, YOU NEED TO BLOG THIS RIGHT NOW! RIGHT NOW!"
"No, I am not blogging right now! I'm trying to figure out what to do with it!"
"I'M BLOGGING IT FOR YOU!"
"I kinda want to take a picture and put it on my blog. 'This is my toenail...'"
That's the gist of our conversation right now.
"Ahhh, toenail....RIP."
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Greetings from the Arctic Tundra...
I wish I was kidding when I refer to my fair city as the Arctic Tundra, but yeah, I'm not.
IT IS SO FREAKING COLD!
Little background. I use to live downtown in Chicago, where it got cold but the buildings would stop a lot of the wind. I recently moved up north to a lake front studio, and although living on a private beach was GREAT during the summer, it is really going to suck now. I seriously was almost blown away when I went out to run tonight.
THAT IS RIGHT. I went running. In the cold. I don't do these types of things, well now I do, but I use to not do these type of things. So there I was at 7 pm (because it was the only time I had to run) in my spandex long pants and layers of shirts running against gusting wind. It was pretty intense. I've been running 2 mile runs in the morning almost every day (I've had a few off) to try to really work on my speed and running technique, and my pace has been hella improving (I've set my new personal best twice in the past week for a mile!) but this cold weather really killed my lungs tonight. I took a deep gulp of air, and it felt like someone was stabbing my chest. I only went 1.15 mile. Granted I made myself bust it out and not just stop and walk but kept running, still it sucked.
SO, good news my pace is rocking (YAY) and I totally will be ready by next year to complete the marathon at or under the required time (DOUBLE YAY).
Bad news? IT IS SO COLD AND IT HURTS SO BAD.
Anyone else have really bad side stomach pains when running in the cold?
I pretty much have it pinned down somewhat to the weather, because I was running in decent weather at the pace I'm at now, and I was fine. Then it got colder, and I just cramp up.
Any suggestions for a cold cold girl? It would be much appreciated.
Well, to the confines of my warm blankets I go, only to roll out of bed and go out into the arctic to run again.
Not gonna lie though. I'm totally looking forward to the whole running part of that last sentence :)
IT IS SO FREAKING COLD!
Little background. I use to live downtown in Chicago, where it got cold but the buildings would stop a lot of the wind. I recently moved up north to a lake front studio, and although living on a private beach was GREAT during the summer, it is really going to suck now. I seriously was almost blown away when I went out to run tonight.
THAT IS RIGHT. I went running. In the cold. I don't do these types of things, well now I do, but I use to not do these type of things. So there I was at 7 pm (because it was the only time I had to run) in my spandex long pants and layers of shirts running against gusting wind. It was pretty intense. I've been running 2 mile runs in the morning almost every day (I've had a few off) to try to really work on my speed and running technique, and my pace has been hella improving (I've set my new personal best twice in the past week for a mile!) but this cold weather really killed my lungs tonight. I took a deep gulp of air, and it felt like someone was stabbing my chest. I only went 1.15 mile. Granted I made myself bust it out and not just stop and walk but kept running, still it sucked.
SO, good news my pace is rocking (YAY) and I totally will be ready by next year to complete the marathon at or under the required time (DOUBLE YAY).
Bad news? IT IS SO COLD AND IT HURTS SO BAD.
Anyone else have really bad side stomach pains when running in the cold?
I pretty much have it pinned down somewhat to the weather, because I was running in decent weather at the pace I'm at now, and I was fine. Then it got colder, and I just cramp up.
Any suggestions for a cold cold girl? It would be much appreciated.
Well, to the confines of my warm blankets I go, only to roll out of bed and go out into the arctic to run again.
Not gonna lie though. I'm totally looking forward to the whole running part of that last sentence :)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Back in the saddle...
HEY!!!
Why am I so chipper at 7:50 in the morning since I got up at 6?!
Because for the first time since the marathon, I went running :)
And the best part? At the end of my workout Paula Radcliff (well her voice on my iPod) congratulated me on my best mile yet on my iPod! WOOO HOOO!!!
My average pace was I believe 15:21 (yeah, the iPod is charging, don't want to disturb it, got a train ride to work), so I finally broke below a 16 min mile. ROCK!
Since I'm not training for a marathon anymore, now comes the time for just keeping my big (but shrinking!) butt moving. So I want to do 3-4 days of short runs (aka 2 miles, which I did this morning), 1 longer run on Saturdays (the length will vary but nothing under 5 I'm thinking?), and then one day of strength training. On the short days I'm going to improve on my pace and work on it, because my goal for the marathon next year is to finish under the 6.5 hour mark (well, I did finish under 6.5 hours this year, but only doing 14 miles, heh), and not have the finish line pass me around mile 3. Hehe.
So, today was a great start on working on this pace of mine. I jogged the first 1/2 mile, speed walked a mile, than jogged the last 1/2 mile, so for my butt (that couldn't jog up a flight of stairs six months ago), a half mile jog pace is pretty good.
Well, off to work I go. I maybe going to a really cool marathon lecture on Thursday if someone can cover my shift at the spa. I'll keep everyone posted!
Keep it moving folks!
Why am I so chipper at 7:50 in the morning since I got up at 6?!
Because for the first time since the marathon, I went running :)
And the best part? At the end of my workout Paula Radcliff (well her voice on my iPod) congratulated me on my best mile yet on my iPod! WOOO HOOO!!!
My average pace was I believe 15:21 (yeah, the iPod is charging, don't want to disturb it, got a train ride to work), so I finally broke below a 16 min mile. ROCK!
Since I'm not training for a marathon anymore, now comes the time for just keeping my big (but shrinking!) butt moving. So I want to do 3-4 days of short runs (aka 2 miles, which I did this morning), 1 longer run on Saturdays (the length will vary but nothing under 5 I'm thinking?), and then one day of strength training. On the short days I'm going to improve on my pace and work on it, because my goal for the marathon next year is to finish under the 6.5 hour mark (well, I did finish under 6.5 hours this year, but only doing 14 miles, heh), and not have the finish line pass me around mile 3. Hehe.
So, today was a great start on working on this pace of mine. I jogged the first 1/2 mile, speed walked a mile, than jogged the last 1/2 mile, so for my butt (that couldn't jog up a flight of stairs six months ago), a half mile jog pace is pretty good.
Well, off to work I go. I maybe going to a really cool marathon lecture on Thursday if someone can cover my shift at the spa. I'll keep everyone posted!
Keep it moving folks!
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
The whole truth, and nothing but the truth....
HELLO INTERNET WORLD! Have no fears, I am still alive!
So get ready for a big old post here, packed full of a lot of pain, sweat, sadness, and triumph. Ok, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but you get the point :)
As you can tell from the photos Emily loaded up to the site, I did in fact survive the Chicago Marathon, or what was left of it. I'm sure most of you heard about the fiasco of the Marathon this year. Go figure, I decide to run a marathon, and mother nature shouts "NO YOU AREN'T!" Eh, you win some, you loose some, right?
So let's start at the beginning, a very good place to start, no?
5:00 AM-Wake up and realize that I'm about to do the most incredible and possibly dumbest thing ever. Oh boy. Eat the usual pre-run protein shake and add a bagel to the mix. Take some Tylenol and a salt tablets before we leave. Me and Dad looked pretty funny. On the bus I listen to some music on my iPod to pump me up while I write my name on my arm in sharpie, and write where all my friends will be with water on my other arm. I look like I was going into battle. Haha.
7:00 AM-Arrive downtown. Runners everywhere. It was nuts and beautiful. Met up with Emily and her friend Joey who were ready to go for the day. Nervous as hell. Kiss my Mom goodbye, and me and Dad are off to the charity tent to drop his bag off. So many nerves, I actually go to the bathroom in a porta-potty. See, I have a huge fear of portable toilets, so if I use one, you know I'm meaning serious business.
7:30 AM-Head to the back of the starting line. Stretch. My dad looks REALLY funny stretching on the ground. Gives me a good laugh and calms me down. We meet another Team Care member, and a runner from Canada. Everyone is nervous but excited.
7:50 AM-We can hear country singer Jo Dee Mesina singing the national anthem. She is also running the marathon this year. I just checked and she got to finish the whole thing! Her pace was 13:11 and she finished in 5:45. DAMN! That's awesome.
The Race!
8:20 AM-Finally cross the start line. Music is blaring, everyone starts from shuffling to running. It's already super humid and hot, not a good sign. My dad informs me to slow down, that I'm going at a twelve something minutes a mile pace. Whoops. I move to the edge of the pack and slow down a little, but can't help myself. I'm crying and I can't stop laughing. I have never felt so alive and so amazing as I cross the starting line. I was just so proud and on top of the world. I'm running past people who are screaming my name, past cars honking horns and cops giving us runners thumbs up. Just amazing.
So I shoot out of the tunnel that we go through right after the start line, and burst around the first corner. Since I'm towards the back of the pack, the runners are spread out farther, which in my case is awesome, because I have my name on my shirt, so all the people that I'm coming up to or passing are screaming my name. Imagine 50+ people shouting your name and telling you that you are awesome and their hero. Yeah, the most amazing experience ever. I pass a group of French fans cheering for me, and thank them in French, and they go wild. I pass the Chicago theatre and a blues band is playing "Sweet Home Chicago." I am in love with the city and all of the people in it at that exact moment.
First water stop: Thankfully they have some more liquids by the time I get there, and I grab a cup of Gatorade. When my Dad passed in the 5:30 pace group, they had nothing for them, so I was thankful for my slow speed at that point. I see two girls that I knew from college cheering me on, my first fans of the day! It was awesome to see familiar faces, and it means the world to me that they came out to cheer us runners on. Thanks Anya and Steph, you girls ROCK!
Corner of Jackson and State: Another huge amount of people are here cheering. I get lots of "GO LISA, YOU GO GIRL!" A lot of "LOOKING GREAT!" I can't stop smiling and pumping my fist and thanking people.
Just past mile 4: Well, the fans are dying down at this point, but still a lot of great people cheering me on. One women tells me a mouthful as I pass by and says "Lisa, you are awesome, you are doing something so many people will never have the courage to do, you are my hero." I almost cry at that comment, phew. I've chatted with a few runners at this point. Everyone is still in good spirits despite no water at the second station, just Vaseline for chaffing. And then it happens. I'm talking to another runner, and the "finish line" van passes us. Yup. Way to make me feel way slow. Eh well. All of a sudden I hear my friend Amy scream my name up ahead. She darts out to me with some Gatorade, and trots by me for a bit before she has to leave for work. She tells me how proud she is of me, that she is so proud she is tearing up. Don't worry Amy, I was doing the same. Thanks for being so awesome and supporting me!
Heading up, almost to North Ave: The church goers coming out of the Moody Bible Institute bless me and cheer me on. I'm not a religious person, but it really touched me deeply to see them out there cheering people on, so major props to the congregation of Moody Bible Institute. A women up ahead is going nuts cheering people on and singing. As I get closer I realize it is a lady that comes to the spa I work at who has ran over 10 marathons. She recognizes me, and starts going crazy! She runs next to me for a bit and sings "Sweet Home Chicago" with me as we run. I hope she comes back to the spa soon, I want to thank her so much for keeping my hopes up during a very dead part of the course.
Turning into Lincoln Park: Well, the official cars are now starting to take down mile markers, and moving us slow pokes to the sidewalk. Thankfully I know the course and have a map, so I'm good to go. The next aid station has no cups, but a nice lady pours water on my hot as hell head. A group of DePaul students stuck around to cheer us all on. It's the most people I've seen in the last 1/2 mile cheering, so it makes me feel better. But I'm starting to get exhausted and dehydrated, so I slow my pace and start to power walk. I power walk a very lonely few miles. I'm too tired to put on my iPod. Every once and a while, someone cheers me on or tells me I look great. Haha, sure. At some point a women has a garden hose and sprays me down. God bless the people of Chicago for all their help.
Turning off Addison and heading back south on Broadway: Well, it's official. The race has passed me by. No more aid stations, crews are cleaning things up, and fans are FAR and few in between. I am so tired. My friend David meets me at Belmont and Broadway with some water and Gatorade. God bless him. He tells me I'm right on time pace-wise of when I told him I'd meet him, so this is nice to hear. He walks for a bit with me, then wishes me good luck. Later he tells me that I looked really bad and tired. Haha. Funny how you don't realize how bad you are when you are dehydrated.
Going south on Broadway: I've got two walking buddies. Brenda and Tara. Tara came from LA to run Chicago, her first marathon. Brenda is a charity runner. We look like a motley crew making our way down the sidewalk.
Turning to go into Old Town: Emily, Joey, and Aaron meet up with me. Emily tells me later that I tell her that I'm fine and have plenty of Gatorade. In fact I was caring a bottle that only had a sip left. She makes me take a bottle of water. Once again I think I'm fine. Later Emily tells me that I wasn't sounding too good, and not making sense when she sees me. Oops.
Old Town: We make our way down the sidewalk, and maybe see one fan cheering us on. To all those people that stayed behind long after the huge mass of runners passed by to cheer us slow pokes on, thank you so much. You are amazing and probably kept me from bailing way earlier. Tara uses the porta-potties at one point. I give her a wet wipe to wash off with after. She tells me receiving that wet wipe is the best thing to happen during the race to her. HAHA. Marathons sure are intense, aren't they?
Somewhere on Wells under the horrible hot sun: My mom and my friend Scootie (who really convinced me to finally do the marathon) meet up with us. They give Tara and me water. My mom is super worried. She also tells me later that I wasn't making sense when I tried to talk to her. They stop us and inform us of the full marathon news. The marathon...HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN. Woah, what? I freak out and want to know about my Dad. I got the text message when he crossed the half way point, and his pace was too fast compared to what he was training at. My mom assures me he is ok. The race officials blocked him and the runners around mile 17 or so, and told them they had to stop, that the race was called due to the extreme heat. My dad asks a cop if he can continue, and the police tell him if he wants to he can on the sidewalk, but if anything happens to him, the wait for an ambulance is 2 hours!!! My dad thankfully boards a bus that takes the runners back to the finish area.
Walking down Wells: My mom wanted me to stop immediately, but I refuse to. Me and Tara talk it over, and decide to head to Jackson where they were making runners stop and turn back to Millennium Park. It came down to we didn't want to get down into Pilsen (not the greatest area) and one of us pass out, and we can't get an ambulance. Their is no aid stations, or they are all empty, and since one person at this point had already died, this was the right decision. Things were getting serious. As we get closer to Jackson, I don't remember a lot, because I was really dehydrated. My legs were starting to buckle as I got towards the end. Not good. The decision we made was the right one. We turn left on Jackson, and get water from police and a few race officials that are guarding a table for runners. They inform us to return to Millennium Park, and there we will receive a finisher medal. A very nice police officer offers me a ride in her squad car and ask if I'm ok. I tell her thank you, but I am good enough, and I want to finish the shortened course to it's fullest.
Crossing Michigan on Jackson: I feel like a zombie, but as I cross Michigan Ave and head over the bridge, I see people cheering the runners that are starting to stagger in. I start running again, so excited. A women comes up to me and hands me a medal and a banana and congratulates me. I start to cry and smile. I ask if I can still cross the finish line. She says yes, to turn in my runner champion chip, and then go backwards to the finish line, loop in and cross it. I tell Tara we are crossing the line, and we make our way down to it.
Finish Line: So now I feel a bit guilty, because I thought the people I was crossing the line with were runners that had also been diverted back to the finish area. Actually, I was crossing the line with some of the diverted runners, but also with people that WERE ACTUALLY FINISHING THE WHOLE THING. So yeah, I feel like a bit of a jerk, but at the time my dehydrated butt had a mission to cross that damn line. I told a race official that I had been directed back to the park, but could I please cross the line. She says of course, and lets us through. Me and Tara run back a few feet, turn around, and bust through the finish line at 5 hours and 20 minutes. I start crying (haha again) and feel so proud. And then I start hearing "runner down" over and over again over bullhorns. People are dropping around me. Everyone looks like hell. A few runners and I exchange congratulations. It looks a bit like a war zone, people falling and looking so sad and sick. I grab an apple and start to eat it because I feel sick and weak. I drink two bottles of water off the bat. I bid Tara goodbye and tell her to keep in touch (Which she did! She found my blog, yay! Hi Tara!) and head to the charity tent. I arrive to find my Mom and all my friends, who start to cheer. I immediately fall into a chair, and am given some apple juice and some turkey sandwiches. I am in a daze. Everyone is talking, but I can't talk because, well, man I was so out of it still. I start to freak out because my Dad is nowhere to be found. I finally see him coming into the tent (he had to go back to get his medal and turn in his chip) and I jump up and run and give him the biggest hug. We sit down and we discuss the race while getting some liquids and protein in us.
After the race: Well, me and Dad discussed our stories, and come to find out, my dad had no hydration until mile 5. The first two aid tents had no liquids at all. They were told to run ahead. Now, on a decent day, this would be ok, but it was sooo hot and humid, you can't run like that with no liquids at all. My dad still believe he could have finished the whole thing if he knew for a fact there would be water ahead of him. But it wasn't worth risking. We find out that 1 man died (a police offer and father of two, his wife was also running the race), a that 315 were taken to the hospital. The whole thing was very tragic and sad, and my thoughts go out to the runner who didn't make it and his family. He died trying to do something amazing and extraordinary, and I will always respect him so much for that. We also find out that it was the hottest Chicago marathon in history (temps were ranging from 87-93 degrees Fahrenheit) and the first Chicago marathon to be cut off. We also find out that 10,000 runners didn't even show up that morning, mainly due to the heat. Me and Dad both saw physically fit athletic looking people walking and dropping out early in the game, which is something you don't usually see. My mom was by one of the starting corral athletes who ran off the course and quit. A spectator asked her why and she replied "I'm running New York in two weeks, this isn't worth hurting myself." My mom also helped a runner on the curb call her husband to come pick her up because "she couldn't go any farther." These were healthy people that have been running for years. So yeah, my Dad and I were a bit optimistic and crazy. But we did give it our all.
Am I disappointed? Yes, a bit. I really wanted to complete the marathon (no matter how long it took) and I know I could have if I was better hydrated. It was sad that I only got to do about 14 miles and then had to stop. But when cops and race officials are turning you around, and the wait for an ambulance is 2+ hours, it's best to make the smart choice. 26.2 miles I will conquer, but it's not worth loosing my life over.
At first I didn't want my finisher medal. I was a bit ashamed of it. But I've realized that I do deserve it. I finished the course that the marathon officials rerouted, I didn't give up before that, didn't take the two offers of rides back to the finish area. I finished what was given to me. I can't help mother nature and I can't help the hydration problem. I don't blame race officials either, shit just happens. I ran in the hottest Chicago Marathon to date. I ran in conditions that were insane, and pushed my body way beyond it's limits. I trained hard and for a long time. I overcame a lot, gained a lot mentally, and lost a lot physically (btw, I weighed myself the day after, and here are the total; starting weight 297 [? it was around that], weight after marathon: 273, AMAZING). That medal was worth the miles of sweat and tears it took me to get where I am today.
I learned a lot about myself these past few months, and a lot this weekend alone. I learned that you don't know how dehydrated you are when you are actually dehydrated. I learned that you CAN look pretty damn awesome in spandex and a fanny pack when you pair it with a smile and a lot of determination. I've met a lot of amazing people during this journey, and have seen just how amazing some of my friends are through their support and love.
Above all else, I learned that I am amazing and wonderful. I have so much self confidence now, and I feel that I can do whatever I set my mind to. I may not have finished the full 26.2 miles this year, but every mile was well worth what I got out of it. Yeah, I was sad not to finish, but the feelings I had at the start line, the feelings I had as I raced through the first part of the course, the adrenaline and energy I felt that I can't even describe, that was worth everything.
Thank you everyone for reading and coming along on my journey. Thank you for all the amazing support. You have no idea how every comment on this blog helped me along mile after mile.
I have a few blisters that are almost healed, and then it's back to running for me. Will I compete in the Chicago marathon again? You betcha! I'll be there front and center next year, hopefully weighing much less and maybe even in a pace group by then. When the marathon gods tell Lisa "no, you will not finish this race," I reply "fine, maybe not this year, but just watch me next year suckas!" We thought about running another marathon soon, but honestly I want Chicago to be my first. I love this city, and I want my first full marathon to be here.
Keep reading the site. Me and Dad are planning to run the Indianapolis half marathon next May for sure, but I know I'm going to run some other smaller races and maybe a few half marathons before next year. Most of all I'm going to keep running. Running has changed my life, and has slowly started to grow on me.
I'm also on a crusade to convince as many people as I can to run a marathon in their lifetime. I've already convinced a few friends to maybe run with me next year, and if anyone needs a virtual training partner (cough cough Pip cough cough), just let me know!
Good luck to everyone with all their future dreams that they will set out to conquer like I have, and no matter what, never give up and keep running.
Love,
Lisa
So get ready for a big old post here, packed full of a lot of pain, sweat, sadness, and triumph. Ok, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but you get the point :)
As you can tell from the photos Emily loaded up to the site, I did in fact survive the Chicago Marathon, or what was left of it. I'm sure most of you heard about the fiasco of the Marathon this year. Go figure, I decide to run a marathon, and mother nature shouts "NO YOU AREN'T!" Eh, you win some, you loose some, right?
So let's start at the beginning, a very good place to start, no?
5:00 AM-Wake up and realize that I'm about to do the most incredible and possibly dumbest thing ever. Oh boy. Eat the usual pre-run protein shake and add a bagel to the mix. Take some Tylenol and a salt tablets before we leave. Me and Dad looked pretty funny. On the bus I listen to some music on my iPod to pump me up while I write my name on my arm in sharpie, and write where all my friends will be with water on my other arm. I look like I was going into battle. Haha.
7:00 AM-Arrive downtown. Runners everywhere. It was nuts and beautiful. Met up with Emily and her friend Joey who were ready to go for the day. Nervous as hell. Kiss my Mom goodbye, and me and Dad are off to the charity tent to drop his bag off. So many nerves, I actually go to the bathroom in a porta-potty. See, I have a huge fear of portable toilets, so if I use one, you know I'm meaning serious business.
7:30 AM-Head to the back of the starting line. Stretch. My dad looks REALLY funny stretching on the ground. Gives me a good laugh and calms me down. We meet another Team Care member, and a runner from Canada. Everyone is nervous but excited.
7:50 AM-We can hear country singer Jo Dee Mesina singing the national anthem. She is also running the marathon this year. I just checked and she got to finish the whole thing! Her pace was 13:11 and she finished in 5:45. DAMN! That's awesome.
The Race!
8:20 AM-Finally cross the start line. Music is blaring, everyone starts from shuffling to running. It's already super humid and hot, not a good sign. My dad informs me to slow down, that I'm going at a twelve something minutes a mile pace. Whoops. I move to the edge of the pack and slow down a little, but can't help myself. I'm crying and I can't stop laughing. I have never felt so alive and so amazing as I cross the starting line. I was just so proud and on top of the world. I'm running past people who are screaming my name, past cars honking horns and cops giving us runners thumbs up. Just amazing.
So I shoot out of the tunnel that we go through right after the start line, and burst around the first corner. Since I'm towards the back of the pack, the runners are spread out farther, which in my case is awesome, because I have my name on my shirt, so all the people that I'm coming up to or passing are screaming my name. Imagine 50+ people shouting your name and telling you that you are awesome and their hero. Yeah, the most amazing experience ever. I pass a group of French fans cheering for me, and thank them in French, and they go wild. I pass the Chicago theatre and a blues band is playing "Sweet Home Chicago." I am in love with the city and all of the people in it at that exact moment.
First water stop: Thankfully they have some more liquids by the time I get there, and I grab a cup of Gatorade. When my Dad passed in the 5:30 pace group, they had nothing for them, so I was thankful for my slow speed at that point. I see two girls that I knew from college cheering me on, my first fans of the day! It was awesome to see familiar faces, and it means the world to me that they came out to cheer us runners on. Thanks Anya and Steph, you girls ROCK!
Corner of Jackson and State: Another huge amount of people are here cheering. I get lots of "GO LISA, YOU GO GIRL!" A lot of "LOOKING GREAT!" I can't stop smiling and pumping my fist and thanking people.
Just past mile 4: Well, the fans are dying down at this point, but still a lot of great people cheering me on. One women tells me a mouthful as I pass by and says "Lisa, you are awesome, you are doing something so many people will never have the courage to do, you are my hero." I almost cry at that comment, phew. I've chatted with a few runners at this point. Everyone is still in good spirits despite no water at the second station, just Vaseline for chaffing. And then it happens. I'm talking to another runner, and the "finish line" van passes us. Yup. Way to make me feel way slow. Eh well. All of a sudden I hear my friend Amy scream my name up ahead. She darts out to me with some Gatorade, and trots by me for a bit before she has to leave for work. She tells me how proud she is of me, that she is so proud she is tearing up. Don't worry Amy, I was doing the same. Thanks for being so awesome and supporting me!
Heading up, almost to North Ave: The church goers coming out of the Moody Bible Institute bless me and cheer me on. I'm not a religious person, but it really touched me deeply to see them out there cheering people on, so major props to the congregation of Moody Bible Institute. A women up ahead is going nuts cheering people on and singing. As I get closer I realize it is a lady that comes to the spa I work at who has ran over 10 marathons. She recognizes me, and starts going crazy! She runs next to me for a bit and sings "Sweet Home Chicago" with me as we run. I hope she comes back to the spa soon, I want to thank her so much for keeping my hopes up during a very dead part of the course.
Turning into Lincoln Park: Well, the official cars are now starting to take down mile markers, and moving us slow pokes to the sidewalk. Thankfully I know the course and have a map, so I'm good to go. The next aid station has no cups, but a nice lady pours water on my hot as hell head. A group of DePaul students stuck around to cheer us all on. It's the most people I've seen in the last 1/2 mile cheering, so it makes me feel better. But I'm starting to get exhausted and dehydrated, so I slow my pace and start to power walk. I power walk a very lonely few miles. I'm too tired to put on my iPod. Every once and a while, someone cheers me on or tells me I look great. Haha, sure. At some point a women has a garden hose and sprays me down. God bless the people of Chicago for all their help.
Turning off Addison and heading back south on Broadway: Well, it's official. The race has passed me by. No more aid stations, crews are cleaning things up, and fans are FAR and few in between. I am so tired. My friend David meets me at Belmont and Broadway with some water and Gatorade. God bless him. He tells me I'm right on time pace-wise of when I told him I'd meet him, so this is nice to hear. He walks for a bit with me, then wishes me good luck. Later he tells me that I looked really bad and tired. Haha. Funny how you don't realize how bad you are when you are dehydrated.
Going south on Broadway: I've got two walking buddies. Brenda and Tara. Tara came from LA to run Chicago, her first marathon. Brenda is a charity runner. We look like a motley crew making our way down the sidewalk.
Turning to go into Old Town: Emily, Joey, and Aaron meet up with me. Emily tells me later that I tell her that I'm fine and have plenty of Gatorade. In fact I was caring a bottle that only had a sip left. She makes me take a bottle of water. Once again I think I'm fine. Later Emily tells me that I wasn't sounding too good, and not making sense when she sees me. Oops.
Old Town: We make our way down the sidewalk, and maybe see one fan cheering us on. To all those people that stayed behind long after the huge mass of runners passed by to cheer us slow pokes on, thank you so much. You are amazing and probably kept me from bailing way earlier. Tara uses the porta-potties at one point. I give her a wet wipe to wash off with after. She tells me receiving that wet wipe is the best thing to happen during the race to her. HAHA. Marathons sure are intense, aren't they?
Somewhere on Wells under the horrible hot sun: My mom and my friend Scootie (who really convinced me to finally do the marathon) meet up with us. They give Tara and me water. My mom is super worried. She also tells me later that I wasn't making sense when I tried to talk to her. They stop us and inform us of the full marathon news. The marathon...HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN. Woah, what? I freak out and want to know about my Dad. I got the text message when he crossed the half way point, and his pace was too fast compared to what he was training at. My mom assures me he is ok. The race officials blocked him and the runners around mile 17 or so, and told them they had to stop, that the race was called due to the extreme heat. My dad asks a cop if he can continue, and the police tell him if he wants to he can on the sidewalk, but if anything happens to him, the wait for an ambulance is 2 hours!!! My dad thankfully boards a bus that takes the runners back to the finish area.
Walking down Wells: My mom wanted me to stop immediately, but I refuse to. Me and Tara talk it over, and decide to head to Jackson where they were making runners stop and turn back to Millennium Park. It came down to we didn't want to get down into Pilsen (not the greatest area) and one of us pass out, and we can't get an ambulance. Their is no aid stations, or they are all empty, and since one person at this point had already died, this was the right decision. Things were getting serious. As we get closer to Jackson, I don't remember a lot, because I was really dehydrated. My legs were starting to buckle as I got towards the end. Not good. The decision we made was the right one. We turn left on Jackson, and get water from police and a few race officials that are guarding a table for runners. They inform us to return to Millennium Park, and there we will receive a finisher medal. A very nice police officer offers me a ride in her squad car and ask if I'm ok. I tell her thank you, but I am good enough, and I want to finish the shortened course to it's fullest.
Crossing Michigan on Jackson: I feel like a zombie, but as I cross Michigan Ave and head over the bridge, I see people cheering the runners that are starting to stagger in. I start running again, so excited. A women comes up to me and hands me a medal and a banana and congratulates me. I start to cry and smile. I ask if I can still cross the finish line. She says yes, to turn in my runner champion chip, and then go backwards to the finish line, loop in and cross it. I tell Tara we are crossing the line, and we make our way down to it.
Finish Line: So now I feel a bit guilty, because I thought the people I was crossing the line with were runners that had also been diverted back to the finish area. Actually, I was crossing the line with some of the diverted runners, but also with people that WERE ACTUALLY FINISHING THE WHOLE THING. So yeah, I feel like a bit of a jerk, but at the time my dehydrated butt had a mission to cross that damn line. I told a race official that I had been directed back to the park, but could I please cross the line. She says of course, and lets us through. Me and Tara run back a few feet, turn around, and bust through the finish line at 5 hours and 20 minutes. I start crying (haha again) and feel so proud. And then I start hearing "runner down" over and over again over bullhorns. People are dropping around me. Everyone looks like hell. A few runners and I exchange congratulations. It looks a bit like a war zone, people falling and looking so sad and sick. I grab an apple and start to eat it because I feel sick and weak. I drink two bottles of water off the bat. I bid Tara goodbye and tell her to keep in touch (Which she did! She found my blog, yay! Hi Tara!) and head to the charity tent. I arrive to find my Mom and all my friends, who start to cheer. I immediately fall into a chair, and am given some apple juice and some turkey sandwiches. I am in a daze. Everyone is talking, but I can't talk because, well, man I was so out of it still. I start to freak out because my Dad is nowhere to be found. I finally see him coming into the tent (he had to go back to get his medal and turn in his chip) and I jump up and run and give him the biggest hug. We sit down and we discuss the race while getting some liquids and protein in us.
After the race: Well, me and Dad discussed our stories, and come to find out, my dad had no hydration until mile 5. The first two aid tents had no liquids at all. They were told to run ahead. Now, on a decent day, this would be ok, but it was sooo hot and humid, you can't run like that with no liquids at all. My dad still believe he could have finished the whole thing if he knew for a fact there would be water ahead of him. But it wasn't worth risking. We find out that 1 man died (a police offer and father of two, his wife was also running the race), a that 315 were taken to the hospital. The whole thing was very tragic and sad, and my thoughts go out to the runner who didn't make it and his family. He died trying to do something amazing and extraordinary, and I will always respect him so much for that. We also find out that it was the hottest Chicago marathon in history (temps were ranging from 87-93 degrees Fahrenheit) and the first Chicago marathon to be cut off. We also find out that 10,000 runners didn't even show up that morning, mainly due to the heat. Me and Dad both saw physically fit athletic looking people walking and dropping out early in the game, which is something you don't usually see. My mom was by one of the starting corral athletes who ran off the course and quit. A spectator asked her why and she replied "I'm running New York in two weeks, this isn't worth hurting myself." My mom also helped a runner on the curb call her husband to come pick her up because "she couldn't go any farther." These were healthy people that have been running for years. So yeah, my Dad and I were a bit optimistic and crazy. But we did give it our all.
Am I disappointed? Yes, a bit. I really wanted to complete the marathon (no matter how long it took) and I know I could have if I was better hydrated. It was sad that I only got to do about 14 miles and then had to stop. But when cops and race officials are turning you around, and the wait for an ambulance is 2+ hours, it's best to make the smart choice. 26.2 miles I will conquer, but it's not worth loosing my life over.
At first I didn't want my finisher medal. I was a bit ashamed of it. But I've realized that I do deserve it. I finished the course that the marathon officials rerouted, I didn't give up before that, didn't take the two offers of rides back to the finish area. I finished what was given to me. I can't help mother nature and I can't help the hydration problem. I don't blame race officials either, shit just happens. I ran in the hottest Chicago Marathon to date. I ran in conditions that were insane, and pushed my body way beyond it's limits. I trained hard and for a long time. I overcame a lot, gained a lot mentally, and lost a lot physically (btw, I weighed myself the day after, and here are the total; starting weight 297 [? it was around that], weight after marathon: 273, AMAZING). That medal was worth the miles of sweat and tears it took me to get where I am today.
I learned a lot about myself these past few months, and a lot this weekend alone. I learned that you don't know how dehydrated you are when you are actually dehydrated. I learned that you CAN look pretty damn awesome in spandex and a fanny pack when you pair it with a smile and a lot of determination. I've met a lot of amazing people during this journey, and have seen just how amazing some of my friends are through their support and love.
Above all else, I learned that I am amazing and wonderful. I have so much self confidence now, and I feel that I can do whatever I set my mind to. I may not have finished the full 26.2 miles this year, but every mile was well worth what I got out of it. Yeah, I was sad not to finish, but the feelings I had at the start line, the feelings I had as I raced through the first part of the course, the adrenaline and energy I felt that I can't even describe, that was worth everything.
Thank you everyone for reading and coming along on my journey. Thank you for all the amazing support. You have no idea how every comment on this blog helped me along mile after mile.
I have a few blisters that are almost healed, and then it's back to running for me. Will I compete in the Chicago marathon again? You betcha! I'll be there front and center next year, hopefully weighing much less and maybe even in a pace group by then. When the marathon gods tell Lisa "no, you will not finish this race," I reply "fine, maybe not this year, but just watch me next year suckas!" We thought about running another marathon soon, but honestly I want Chicago to be my first. I love this city, and I want my first full marathon to be here.
Keep reading the site. Me and Dad are planning to run the Indianapolis half marathon next May for sure, but I know I'm going to run some other smaller races and maybe a few half marathons before next year. Most of all I'm going to keep running. Running has changed my life, and has slowly started to grow on me.
I'm also on a crusade to convince as many people as I can to run a marathon in their lifetime. I've already convinced a few friends to maybe run with me next year, and if anyone needs a virtual training partner (cough cough Pip cough cough), just let me know!
Good luck to everyone with all their future dreams that they will set out to conquer like I have, and no matter what, never give up and keep running.
Love,
Lisa
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Game over.
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