Finisher's Medal

Yes. I finished my very first marathon! Full post to follow.

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Becky Runs  | Comment »

Tendinitis, ITB, Nausea! OH MONTEREY!

So this last weekend, I completed my LAST LONG TRAINING RUN! I say completed very loosely… Friday I finally made it to the podiatrist to have my foot checked out and she said I had tendinitis and need to rest, but I basically told her “HA, maybe in a month” Saturday morning was our 20 mile run in Pacific Grove- it was a beautiful run and I felt strong for the first 12 miles running with Opritsa, Sarah and Tracey. Throughout the season, the coaches have been preaching to us the art of re-fueling during our run. Experiment, find what’s right. I’d been using the Powergel’s and this last run, went to a different sporting goods store that didn’t carry them, so I picked up a few Gu’s instead. Now, some people love Gu and hate Powergel, but for me, the Gu wreaked havoc on my stomach! First gel I had was a Powergel (yum tangerine- like a creamsicle!) Around mile 14 I was getting tired, my IT Band was causing some knee pain and I needed a pick me up and had to go for the Gu- gagging the whole way down because of it’s thicker consistency… I’ll spare the gruesome details after that, and pick up where I had to spend most of the rest of the course walking. Several times, I wanted to give up, ask some surfer for a ride back… but knew that I’d kick myself forever for that and kept going… My team was encouraging, several walked with me… I wouldn’t have made it without them! The cooling down of my muscles, however, did not prove to be an issue until ~2 hours after I stopped walking. My tendinitis is 10x worse than it was because walking on cool muscles caused my achilles to tighten drastically. I’ve been resting and going between stretching and icing the past few days trying to regain the flexibility. (All of Sunday, I had to walk on my toes because my achilles couldn’t stretch enough to walk flat footed) I’m feeling better physically today, and getting the itch to run again… or as Captain Mike Z calls it Taper Madness! Unfortunately now, the battle appears to be fighting a cold- thanks to my fiance Jeff for this one :) So glad to have 3 weeks to recover before my first (and hopefully not last) MARATHON!!!!

One more thing… My fundraising deadline is in 1 DAY!!!! Make sure to go to: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/nikesf09/bmorrowcrd if you haven’t yet made a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Cancer sucks, and research helps save lives, so let’s do our part!

Posted via email from Becky Runs  | Comment »

Sunrise on the way to Monterey:

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Becky Runs  | Comment »

Why I run:

THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO HAS DONATED!

I’m over halfway to my goal with 1 week to go, which means I need *you* to donate (if you haven’t) and pass it along to your friends!

It’s hard not to get caught up in the physical/mental barriers I have to overcome to run 26.2 miles, but keeping in touch with why we’re running is what keeps me going through this “burnout” stage. 

I visited the LLS LifeMosaic and was touched by the stories… children, eldery and people in their 20’s just like me.  This disease does not discriminate, but it can be fought.  Read their stories here:  http://www.llslifemosaic.com/lifemosaic/mosaic.jsp

Those of you who know me well, know that 5 years ago in April, my Mom called me to tell me that she had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  Her mother, my grandmother who I never had the chance to meet, died of cancer when she was right around that age, and it was the scariest moment of my life.  I thought I was about to lose my mom.  I can still remember where I was, I was driving down a straight country road heading to my dad’s to do laundry, I remember finding it hard to push down on the gas, to keep my hands on the steering wheel, to see straight… I just wanted to get on a plane and see her, and hug her just in case I didn’t have much time…  

I had to finish up the next few weeks of the semester, write papers, take my finals before I could even see my mom because at the time, she was living in Galveston, Texas and I was in Indianapolis, IN.   By the time I was able to see my mommy in June, she had opted to have a double mastectomy (and 5 years of tamoxifen-which she just completed.) vs. a lumpectomy and chemotherapy .  She believed that she wouldn’t live through what chemotherapy would do to her body.  My mom is still alive and in remission today. I love her so much and I am running this race in honor of her and people like her, who have chosen to fight and to live and to refuse to let cancer win.   And for other people like me, who know that somewhere inside us, there is a cancer gene that is just waiting to be turned on, that for some reason makes our body turn against us.  

I don’t believe that Team in Training is just about raising money to fight blood cancer. I think of it as a fight against cancer. All Cancer.   

Thank you all for your support and GO TEAM!

 

Posted via web from Becky Runs  | Comment »

18 Miles!

As I mentioned before, from here on out, it’s nothing but record distances…  Yesterday, despite some pain in my knee from my IT band, I completed 18 miles and I think we did it in about 3 hours, but I didn’t keep track.

 The run was our “race course preview” essentially running the second half of the race course, starting at Lake Merced, running up the Great Highway along Ocean Beach (where it was thundering and lightening) and then through Golden Gate Park (where it rained) then back down the Great Highway and finished up with a lap around Lake Merced.  Stayed pretty strong up until we got to the lake and saw the finish point, but still had ~6 miles to go, I hit the proverbial “wall” where I just wanted to sit down… my legs were SO tired. I’m pretty sure I need to start bringing 3 Powergel’s instead of 2 because I think I just ran out of energy. My knee was also done on the last mile and I spent the rest of the day with it on ice——BUT—— I didn’t have sickness or nausea so, Yay for shots of pickle juice pre and post run!

 Big Thanks to all the girls (and one guy) in our little running group- I’m pretty sure I could never do this on my own without the support of our team and coaches!  Next up… shorter run/rest followed by our last long run in Pacific Grove for 20 miles!!!!

 Followed very shortly by… MY FUNDRAISING DEADLINE!!! It’s coming up soon- October 1st! Be sure to get your donations in!  http://pages.teamintraining.org/sj/nikesf09/bmorrowcrd

Posted via email from Becky Runs | Comment »

From our weekly update:

“I never advise running the full 26.2 miles during training [for a marathon]. If you had to run across a bed of hot coals, would you train for it over and over again?” ~ Bill Dellinger, Olympian and former University of Oregon track coach   

 I’m mentally preparing myself for 18 miles on Saturday… Physically preparing by drinking water, icing, and cutting back on the workouts this week after some knee pain Sunday.
Only 3 more weeks to donate to my cause! Big thanks to the (few) who have already!!!

Posted via email from Becky Runs | Comment »

So I've been lacking in my updates....

But I haven’t given up… and I still need your support!!!

Posted via email from Becky Runs | Comment »

My birthday! Waddell Creek Run!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

See and download the full gallery on posterous

See and download the full gallery on posterous

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Becky Runs | Comment »

Vacation, Jeff's Recovery, Recommitment.

The last few weeks have been hectic to say the least. It started with my “vacation” back to the midwest where I was attending two of my best friends’ weddings. One was in Indianapolis on the 11th and one just outside Cleveland on the 18th.  For the sake of the champagne toasts, I broke my sober summer training, but kept my alcohol intake to a minimum and kept myself as hydrated as possible!

 The biggest hindrance to my training was dealing with weather! You see, in San Jose, I don’t generally have to track thunderstorms to determine whether or not I’m going to get my long run in… but that’s exactly what happened on my first Saturday and Wednesday…. and second Friday/Saturday…. Basically, it rained a lot.  I did get my 10 M run in on the Monon/Canal trail starting at Butler University (where I attended college) and running up just past the Indiana School for the Blind (where I volunteered during college through my sorority Delta Gamma). It was a hot day and I ran out of water with ~3 miles to go and couldn’t wait to get back to another bottle I had waiting for me! :)

 Monday on vacation, my Dad picked me up at 8:00 AM to go swimming with him and my grandpa. They go 2 or 3 times a week and I worried that I wouldn’t keep up with my dad, but I focused on good form, since I know I’m not a fast swimmer, and was able to *barely* keep up with my dad for about an hours worth of swimming.  Tuesday I ran over to a middle school track near my sister’s and did 6 - 800m intervals with core training sets in between.

 That was the last of my workouts because rain cancelled my plans to run pre-wedding on Saturday.  Last week, I wasn’t able to work out at all because my fiancé, Jeff, had hernia surgery and I was his care-taker for the week. It’s really exhausting to have to get up every time someone is cold or needs water or needs to use the restroom or needs medicine or is throwing up…. I have immense respect for nurses who are able to do this for complete strangers when it wore me out doing it for someone I love. Jeff is feeling much better now, though still recovering.

 Saturday was the first day he was able to sit up on his own, which excited me because I got to go to the 10-12 miler at Campbell park! Even though I was exhausted, my toe nails hurt, my knees hurt, and I was dehydrated and sick by the end of the 12 miles because I hadn’t been preparing for it… it was great to get back into my sneakers!  In addition to dealing with Jeff’s surgery, I was dealing with a family emergency last week that was really getting me down. Getting up and going to the run Saturday morning really got me out of a rut and it was great to see everyone and hear the familiar “Go Team.” It was this time that I knew that I needed to make sure to get my recommitment forms in.

 I had some trouble at Track after turning in my recommitment forms- we were running 1200’s and I was in new shoes- which turned out to be a mistake and ended up with severe arch pain after round 3, forcing me to sit out a few laps early.  I’ve since been taking it easy on my poor feet, trying to swim more, ran a 10K for our “rest” weekend and spending a fair amount of time with Running Revolution, who determined I should stick with my Alchemy’s in a half size bigger- but I’d have to special order them. So, for now, I’m still waiting….

Posted via email from Becky Runs | Comment »

What's more painful, the arthritis or the ice?

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Becky Runs | Comment »