I DID IT!!!!

26.2 MILES!! I can't believe it but I fiinished the marathon! Yippie! Woke up at 3 am this morning feeling pretty good. When we got to the start line, there were a lot of other Team in Training members getting ready. It was so great to meet up with everyone. I was so excited and could not wait to start running. One last bathroom break before we started out. It seemed like forever that we were corraled on the street. The temperature dropped slightly as it was just before dawn. I was then a little bit more nervous and my stomach began to do flip flops. I just wanted to start. The race began with the start of the Fireworks over the beach. It was such a great sight to see. As soon as we started to move I felt overjoyed. It was about 15 minutes before we actually made it to the "Start" line, but after we cleared it, we were on our way. It was so dark out and we really didn't get a chance to see anything great on the way through town. All the trees were lit up and they some Christmas decorations out on the lawns of the state buildings, so it was kind of neat. I felt okay through town, not great, but okay. When we got to Kapiolani park I was feeling a little bit tired and couldn't even imagine the 19+ miles we had in front of us to conquor. The sun was just about rising and we were also raising in elevation up the hill of Diamondhead Road. I actually felt really good going up the hill and felt better after I climbed it. The next few miles were smooth saiiling for the most part. As we headed down the hill on 18th Street, we could see thousands of people in front of us in a big sea of runners. It was an unbelievable sight to behold. I was very motivated by the time we got to the beginning of the highway. There were so many people cheering us on. I felt so great that I had made it this far already. On the way out of Honolulu to Hawaii Kai, I felt still pretty good. The lots of miles still ahead was pressing on my mind. My hip, knees, and right ankle were taking turns being in pain. It was hard, but I kept pushing myself forward. I couldn't believe how quickly the turn around at Hawaii Kai came to be. I thought now would be the perfect time to break for the bathrooms. The lines were unbelievably long at the 20 or so porta potties at the park. I knew that I needed the break anyways to rest my muscles and perhaps stretch out a bit. The line was 20 minutes too long. I felt naseous and achy at first. I thought it may have been a mistake to stop at this point. But after stretching a bit, I felt a lot better and like this stop was needed. Back onto the course, my muscles did feel better, but I had a little bit of brain melt affecting me. It was at this point (Mile 16 or so) that I started my run/walking. I think I did more walking on the last 8 miles, but it was necessary as my joints were in lots of pain as well as my feet. Also at this point, I knew that I could finish and that my only goal at this time was to just finish. As the miles crept upwards, so did the pain. Even though I took some shots of salt, I was cramping up on my side. After running a few hundred feet, the cramp would seize up and I would need to stop for a while. I eventually ran passed a Team in Training support person on the side of the road. Luckily they had salty pretzels. I hoped this would help. But, even if I didn't have the cramp on my side, my feet were screaming in pain and I could tell that I already had at least 1 blister on each foot. It felt like my body was going to crumble down. My back was aching and my neck was pinching. I was feeling bad, but continued on. Throughout the whole race there were at least 5 or 6 bands playing or someone playing music. It did help a little bit in the motivation. By mile 21 I was really confident I could do it. We were almost at the gas station on the way back and I knew from that point, I could do it. Even if it meant walking most of the way back. Which is pretty much what happened. My left calf was now screaming in pain and it felt like it was going to snap at any moment. I kept going, and I still continued to keep going. running for short periods and then walking off the pain. When I reached Triangle park, my spirits rose and I could feel the end. I was pracically limping at this point, but there were some camera's at the top of Diamondhead, so I smiled and jogged in front of the camera. Heck, I didn't want to watch myself walking on the DVD. Down the hill, the pain screamed to me to stop. My calf was just hanging on and my feet wanted to sit down for hours on end. I was in serious pain by the time we reached the start of Kapiolani Park. I was fighting back tears from the pain, but when I saw the finish line I started to cry. It was right there in front of me. I felt so happy. I ignored all my aches and pains and pushed a run until the finish. It felt so unbelievable to cross the finish line. I started to cry I was so happy. We were greated with shell lei's and cold showers . Then it was into the park to attempt to find out Team in Training tent as well as the finisher's tent to pick up our t-shirt and medal. It was a maze. I felt like they were trying to make it difficult so that we would have to suffer through more pain of walking. I started to cry in anguish at this point. We eventually did find the finishers tent. It was a great feeling to pick up our t-shirts and medals. I couldn't believe I just did that. I just completed a MARATHON!! We found the TNT tent easily after that and I was then still crying becuase I was in so much pain at this point and I was feeling week and lightheaded. I still just wanted to survive this whole experience. They checked us in and gave us 26.2 pins. I found a seat and we were brought soda (to help open our airways) and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Those were delicious and I did feel a little better. Although I was still nervous that I was going to pass out eventually. We caught a bus back to the Hilton and then from there a taxi. It was painful to move up and down stairs and just walking in general took a lot of strength. When I got home, I noticed I had a horrible sunburn on my neck. Still I didn't care, becuase I had finished. I was in tremendous pain an took a nice 2 hour nap. After waking I felt a little better, but still incredibly sore. I am now slouched on the couch trying to type this up. We still have the victory party which they highy recommended we go to so that we move our muscles about. I'm still in shock that I have completed such an amazing feat. I can't wait to go celebrate. Thanks to everyone for their support and help. It really gave me the motivation to continue on with the training. I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE I DID IT!

Twas the Night Before the Marathon

Just came back from the pasta party at the Hilton. It was so much fun we had a few wonderful speakers to help motivate us. One of the speakers mentioned that completely the marathon is not the end, it's the beginning. The beginning for whatever we imagine. I am very nervous, but more anxious than anything. I just want to run it, I want to get started now. I know I can do it, the next post to my BLOG you will see will be me regaling the story of how I completed the marathon. I will try and remember every detail and hopefully wont be a victim of marathon brain melt. I don't how much sleep I will manage to get tonight. I doubt a few hours if any. But, that's okay. They keep saying that it's okay if we don't get enough sleep. I've laid out all my clothing and items I will need for tomorrow. I will be a running advertisement for Nike; Nike shoes, sox, shorts, shirt, and hat. I'm really glad that I decided to the marathon training with the Team in Training. If I had just done this alone, it definitely would not have been as much fun or meaningful. It makes all the difference in the world to have 700+ other people for support. GO TEAM!!

Ah, So That's What Pavement Feels Like!

D'oh! Today was our last threshold training. I was really happy and excited. Things were going well, I felt great throughout the thresholds. However, during our second threshold, I was going along well and then SPLAT! I found myself down on the pavement. OWE! I had scraped my left knee and left elbow. It hurt for a moment and then I got up and continued on with the exercise. The cuts were bleeding, but not driping down my body so I thought I would be okay until we got home. I was so excited when we finished our very last threshold. It felt so good. The pain wasn't too bad until I got back home and showered. Then it burned very badly. After some gentle cleansing and care, both wounds feel okay. I will be sure to pamper them until they are healed. Of course, this would happen less than a week before the marathon. My muscles are tensing up pretty bad as well. I'm trying hard to keep moving and stretching. I probably should take some pain killers. I'm so glad we have tomorrow off. Last night I got very nervous about the marathon, 26.2 seems impossible. But, I pushed those thoughts out of my head and have just convinced myself it can be done. :) Breakfast: cereal, milk Lunch: lean cuisine Dinner: Help me raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! www.active.com/donate/lyramichael

What Do We Do Now?

"Don't do anything new. Don't do anything stupid." Good words of advice from the team. Those are good words. We are supposed to relax and take it VERY easy this week. Wouldn't want to unnecessarily injure ourselves in the last week. We did all our training in the last 5 months, we wont gain anything this week. The 90 minute run went very smooth. I felt great. I hope I can feel that good on marathon day. They gave us lots of other good advice about eating and tapering. I started to relax a little bit and felt confident that I would make it to the marathon and finish it. We got our race jersey and jackets. It made me feel like I had accomplished so much and had truly made it through the training and was part of the team. Weight: 119.5 pounds Breakfast: french toast Lunch: roast chicken sandwich Dinner: don't remember Help me raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! www.active.com/donate/lyramichael

Almost There!

Well, I didn't do the exercises for this week in the right order or on the right day, but hey 3 overall out of 4 isn't bad. Today I ran 4 miles. Did pretty good, felt pretty good. My confidence is high at the moment. Tomorrow will be our last group training. I'm a little sad, but I've had lots of fun with the training and now it's time to do the marathon. Only one more week. It's a little scary. I'm trying to keep my self busy (which is easy at work) so that I don't have time to think of the marathon. I'm just very anxious to get to marathon day. ;) Weight: 120.5 pounds (darn those cookies, pizza and cake) Breakfast: cereal, orange juice Lunch: Lean Cuisine Snack: Cake Dinner: Pasta, garlic bread

When Will the Threshold's be Over?

Today was more threshold work. 12 minute increments x 3. I could do the first two okay, the third I decided to just do 6 minutes. It was still a challenging workout. I just knew I needed to do my best. I'm worried that the marathon is going to be 10 million times harder. How will I ever do it? I know I can do it. I've trained so long and hard. There's no way I'm giving up. I will make it to the finish line even if I have to crawl. I was happy when I finished todays exercise. Next Tuesday will be the last threshold workout. I'm very happy about that. Weight: 119.5 pounds Breakfast: cereal, orange juice Lunch: Lean Cuisine Snack: peanut butter cups Dinner: Pizza, cinistix