More Madness....May Madness

If you were following me then, you probably recall that I did Michael's March Madness Vegetarian Challenge.  I went 30 days with no meat.  It went so well I have virtually given up meat.  I have eaten it a few times since March, but I could count it on one hand.  So I've decided to try a new challenge.

I mentioned this in my blog last week, but I was afraid if I didn't dedicate a blog post to it I wouldn't do it.  Accountability you know.  So, May is going to be Michael's Sugar Free Challenge.  Yikes.....SUGAR FREE for a month.  This will be much, much harder than giving up meat, but I hope it has the same affect.  I need to get over my obsession with sweets.  Seriously, my name is Michael and I am a Chocoholic, Sugaroholic, Sweetoholic...you name it - if it has sugar in it I want it.  I can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

This means.....no Starbucks......no afternoon pack of M&Ms or whatever.....no CRAP.  I can do it!  I am also eliminating sugar substitutes.  No reason to go packing myself full of chemicals to try to fill the gap.  So that means no soda.  I'm starting to waiver here.  This will be difficult.  But I CAN DO IT!!  Wish me luck guys!  This may be one of the hardest things I've ever done.

Additional info:  After a few blog questions I thought I should add this information.  I am not eliminating natural sugars - like those in fruit.  I am only trying to cut out the stuff that is unhealthy for me - fruit is obviously very healthy.  Also, I am going to try to knock out added sugars that appear in many breads, etc. but I am not going to go overboard trying to dissect every single ingredient in everything I eat.  I just really want to focus on cutting out alot of the crap in my diet.

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If anyone is interested I posted a few additional OKC race photos on Facebook.  Here's the link.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10150193418377893.302375.662652892&l=0f21328721

And in case you missed it, you can read my OKC Half Marathon recap here.

You can also read Jim's race recap here.  He gives alot more details than me and it's a bit more positive :)  He also has alot of the Facebook pics.

OKLAHOMA - Where the Wind & Rain Come Sweeping Down the Plains

Oklahoma City Race Recap - WARNING:  This race recap will not be full of positivity.  Read on if you want my real feelings on this race.

I will start on a positive note.  As mentioned before this was my stepdaughter Madi's first half marathon.  She did AMAZING!!  Seriously she did awesome.  And she managed to have a wonderful time in spite of the horrible weather.  I will let Jim share all of the race details with you since he actually ran the race with her, but I can't tell you how proud both of us are of her and her AWESOME race.  She finished in 2:28:27, below her goal time.  Way to GO Madi!!  She definitely has the running bug and this won't be her last race!



After the race - freezing.  You can really tell how hard the wind was blowing - look at Madi's blanket straight out to the side.


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Now for me.  This was my third half marathon and my slowest time ever.  I finished in 2:56:31.  That is a lightening fast pace of 13:28.  In one way I'm mad at myself for the poor results, but on the other hand I'm sort of proud of myself for even running the race and finishing it.

I knew going into the race that I wouldn't finish as strong as I would like because I had really only trained for about 6 weeks due to an injury.  My long runs went like this 5 miles, 6 miles, 7 miles, 9 miles, no long run (Boston), 11 miles - and then race day.  That's it - I had 5 long runs before completing this half.  In spite of the limited training; my training runs were going well.  I felt strong and my times were improving.  If you had asked me 2 weeks ago where I thought I would finish I would have said around 2:30-2:35.  And then last week I got sick.  I had a terrible head cold.  I thought I was feeling a little better by Friday, but then Saturday I ended up being the sickest I had been all week. On the drive to Oklahoma I went through an entire box of Kleenex and I felt completely miserable.   I had to take cold medicine all day, and Nyquil the night before just so I could get some sleep.  Nyquil the night before a race is probably not generally the best idea.  On Sunday the cold had moved into my chest.  I knew going into the race, I wouldn't have a great race time, but honestly in the back of my head I was still hoping for a 2:45.

We knew there was rain in the forecast for Sunday's race, but we were hoping it would be a light mist or would miss us all together.  Not so much.  I woke up at 4:30 am on Sunday and looked outside - no rain - YES, maybe it would miss us.  It was currently about 49 degrees, windy, but no rain.  I dressed in shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt with a short sleeve t-shirt over top of it.  As we continued to get ready it started to rain.  The race was scheduled to start at 6:30 am, so at 5:45 am we headed to the lobby only to hear that the race had been delayed to 7 am due to lightening.  Well, maybe with a delay the rain would move out.  I walked outside to get a feel for the temps, and it seemed very cold and it was pouring rain.  I decided since we had time I would go put on a pair of running tights under my shorts (thank goodness I did this).  We tried to wait out the rain as long as possible, not wanting to stand in the rain too long prior to the race.  This almost proved disastrous, as we barely made it to the start line and checked our gear bags.  We had less than a minute to spare before the race started.

I felt miserable.  I was so sick, and it was 45 degrees, pouring rain (I mean pouring!) and the winds were a consistent 20 mph.  For a pretty good stretch during the first part of the race you were running directly into the wind.  It was freezing cold.  My lungs were on fire due to my cold and I was thinking to myself - Why am I out here - why didn't I just stay in the hotel?  If I had felt the way I did on a normal Sunday, I would have stayed in bed all day - but not only was I not in bed, I was running a half marathon in the freezing cold wind and rain.

I felt tired and winded the entire race.  I was already walking at mile 3.  After I crossed mile 2, I decided I would run 9 minutes and walk 1.  At some point that became run 5 and walk 1, and then run 2, and walk 1....it kept changing.  I was just beat, and beat up by the weather and completely drained of energy.  In spite of this my first 6 miles were still pretty strong (for me).

Between mile 8 and 9 I desperately had to go the bathroom.  The porta pottys along the route always had ridiculous long lines, I kept thinking they would thin out as I went along the race, but they never did. 
Finally I couldn't wait anymore so I stopped.  It took almost 5 minutes.  I finally get inside the porta potty and the drawstring in my shorts have a knot in them.  My hands are literally so cold and numb and swollen that I can't feel them.  I can see my hands, and I'm trying to untie this knot, but my HANDS WON"T FREAKING WORK!  No matter how hard I tried, nothing happened, my hands were too numb to feel or work.  I left the porta potty.  I wasted 5 minutes, and I still had to go to the bathroom.  I was miserable.

I ran for about 3/4 of a mile with my hands under my shirt trying to get some feeling back in them.  Finally it worked, and while running I was able to untie my drawstring on my shorts and stop at another porta potty for another 4 minutes.  But at least I got to go to the restroom this time.  I'm not trying to make excuses (well I guess I kind of am), but I did lose over 9 minutes during the porta potty fiascos (as validated by my Garmin).  And when my Garmin beeped to let me know I just completed mile nine in 17:04 - I knew there would be no way to make up that time.  This would be my worst half marathon time, and was definitely my worst half marathon experience.  I couldn't wait for the race to be over. 



If I had just finished in my "moving" time, I still would have had a 3 min PR.

I was happy with the first part of the race, slowly getting faster each mile.  In mile 8 and 9 is where I lost time for the stupid Porta Potty.

I finally finished and joined Jim and Madi to learn how great she had done.  I was shivering from head to toe - as were they.  I was trying to put on a warm jacket and gloves, but once again, my fingers were completely frozen and numb and I had a hard time doing this.  I couldn't get my jacket to zip and putting gloves on, well they ended up only half on.  We headed back to the hotel in the pouring rain.  It literally never let up the entire time.  It was 3 hours of solid rain, the temperature dropped all during the race and ended up at about 45 degrees.  I don't think I have ever been that cold in my entire life.  My heart truly went out to those poor people running the full marathon because the rain didn't let up at all.  It was stilling coming down hard when we left OKC at around 1pm.

My final Garmin mileage was 13.34......what?  I ran an extra quarter of a mile?  Jim and I were both talking about how far off the mileage seemed.  At mile one my Garmin already showed 1.04 and there was only one slight left turn.  I know Garmin's aren't 100% accurate and if you don't run the tangents exactly during a race you can add up a little extra mileage - but this seemed pretty excessive.  It got so bad as the race progressed that my Garmin would beep the mile end, and I couldn't even see the race mile marker.  This did not add to my great race experience.

So, to also end on a positive note.  The trip itself was fun.  It was really great to be there with Madi as she got to experience her first race and see all the excitement and nervousness she was feeling.  We gave her a cute running necklace after the race to remember her day by.  She was on cloud 9 all the way home.  And lastly, at the end of the day I finished the half marathon and have another one under my belt!  

Pre-race

Post race

The night before

I’m down with OKC and other tidbits

This will be my last post for a few days.  We are headed to OKC for the OKC Memorial Half Marathon.  Here are my thoughts in bullets:

·    This will be my stepdaughter Madi’s first Half Marathon ever!  She has been training so hard all winter.  She will do AWESOME!  Good Luck Madi!

·    I’m still a bit under the weather but slowly improving.  I’m hoping to feel 80% by Sunday.

·    I got a mini brick workout in this morning – and by mini I mean MINI – 10 minutes on the bike and 10 minutes on the treadmill.  Oh well, better than nothing.

·    The weather doesn’t look to great.  Around 50 degrees for the race start (just about perfect right?), but also rain, and 15-20 mph winds with the temperature slowly declining throughout the day.

·    I was hoping for a PR…I don’t think that’s going to happen now.  But oh well, I’m just going out to have fun no matter what – cold, rain, whatever….throw it my way I’m going to have FUN, nothing is stopping me!

·    Jim and I are hoping for a blogger meet-up with Christi at Pedestrian Runner.  Any other bloggers going to be in OKC?

Other tidbits:

·    After a few days of recovery next week I really start my training for the Hyvee Triathlon in September.  It’s my first Olympic distance race.  I am TERRIFIED of the swim!  I keep seeing commercials for this race on TV.  It gets me kind of pumped up – and then I start thinking – HOLY CRAP – What was I thinking?  I don’t belong at a race like this.  It’s televised and everything.  Kind of a big deal.  I may finish dead last, I may drown.  I don’t know.  Is anyone else doing this race?  I wanted to post the commercial on here but I couldn’t find it on line anywhere.  I’m telling you it’s awesome and terrifying at the same time. 

·    I’m sad because Jack is already at the kennel.  I will have no doggie to say goodnight to tonight. 

·    Remember my March Vegetarian Challenge?  That went so well I’m going to be kicking off my May – Sugar Free Challenge.  That’s right – I’m going to try to go a month without eating any added sugar.  Natural sugars are ok – so I can eat all the fruit I want, but that means no candy bars, etc.  It’s going to be the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do.  I start Monday, May 2.  Anyone like to join me?  It would be nice to have someone out there doing the same thing.

·   Good Luck to everyone racing this weekend.  The racing season is here.  There are a ton of people racing this weekend! I hope you all do well.

Running on Empty - Sick

Well in typical Michael fashion - I'm SICK!!  Head cold.  My nose will not stop running, sore throat, headache, sneezing and lymph nodes the size of walnuts. 

I worked from home for about 4 hours, but spent most of the day in bed today.  It seems like everytime I have something major coming up - like a half marathon on Sunday - I get sick.


I guess I should have expected it - between training, a crazy work schedule, and travel - I've been stretching myself pretty thin and now my body is screaming for rest.  I ran on Monday morning and could barely make it 2 miles - I thought I was still tired from my 11 miler on Saturday - but now I know I was getting sick.  I skipped my run this morning, and at this point I know I won't feel like running tomorrow.   I am in my taper week, but I don't want to go into a half marathon having only ran 2 miles the previous 7 days.  I don't know what to do....push myself and run tomorrow or take another rest day and run a few miles on Friday?

What would you guys do?  I need advice.

My Almost Football Career

During my Junior and Senior years of High School I was part of the Powder Puff football team.  If you aren’t sure what this is, it was an annual flag football game played between the Junior and Senior High School girls and it was always held during Homecoming week.  It was a big deal every year and pretty much everyone in the school came out to watch.  My senior year we were losing miserably to the Junior girls (a little embarrassing for us upper classman).  We only had a few seconds left in the game.  At the last moment our High School’s real quarterback Travis (who was also our coach) decides to throw the ball down the field to see if we can make a last second score.  It went something like this:

I see the ball coming my way.  It’s floating up in the air, the football lights in the stadium are on, and it’s headed straight my way.  I know I can catch it – even though it won’t count as real points (since the real quarterback is throwing the ball).  It will still be exciting to catch it! 

In those few seconds I envisioned myself catching the ball, running down the field to score, the crowd going wild, and me being carried off the field on the shoulders of my teammates.  What actually happened?  I held out my arms to catch the ball, and it hit me square in the forehead, bounced off my head, landed on the ground in front of me and the game was over.  Needless to say I was absolutely humiliated.  Instead of cheers, there were laughs, and people pointing and saying – “ouch”, or “did you see that?”  I seriously considered quitting school at that moment.  I just knew I would never live it down.  The next day would be the worst day of my life.  I literally couldn’t sleep that night.  I still remember that moment so vividly….but if you were to ask one of my classmates would they actually remember – maybe a few, but most would not.  But this is just one example of my stellar athletic career.

In elementary and middle school I played softball, but I was always one of the worst players on the team – always in the outfield and always batting last.  In high school and college I played tennis, but again, I was always one of the last seeded players.  In road races and triathlons I am always in the bottom 25% of my age group.  And when I race in Oklahoma City on Sunday it will be no different, but I am ok with that, because I’m out there.  In high school, I might have been embarrassed by missing the football, but I was out there.  I’m sure there were a lot of my female classmates that were watching the game from the bleachers because they were too afraid to get out there and try, or because they just didn’t have enough confidence to think they could do it, or they didn’t want to put a little time into practicing. 

And when it comes to racing, even though I'm a "slow" runner and triathlete, I still know that I'm also in the minority.  I am the only person in my department at work who has ever completed a half marathon or a triathlon.  I am one of only a few people in my neighborhood, my County, my State, that have done these things.  It’s really cool to know that although I’ll never win my age group, or take home an age group award, that I’m still out there “Slowly Tri-ing” no matter what!

Doin' the Jelly Bean....a long run.....and WORKING

First, Happy Easter everyone!

Unfortunately, today I spent a good portion of my day at work.  Not fun.  Here is how I looked at work (my best super annoyed poses).  I am VERY Busy at work right now, and having 4 days off to go to Boston didn't exactly help things.  We had way too much going on Saturday, so I headed in to work this afternoon.  As you can imagine, it was super quiet, so I got alot done (including taking pics of myself).


I look gooooood in these pics huh?  Nice hair and make-up or lack thereof.

My "In" box.......UGH!
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Saturday was my last long run before the Oklahoma City half marathon next Sunday.  I got up bright and early (5am) and headed out for an 11 miler.  Jim joined me for my first 7 miles.  It was nice to have someone to run with.  He humors me on occasion and runs with me, even though I know it's like moving in slow motion for him.  I felt really strong for the first 7 miles, miles 7-9 were still pretty good, and by miles 9-11 I was really getting tired.  I know I can complete 13.1 next weekend, but I think there will definitely be some walking those last few miles.  I really wish I was going into this race feeling a little more prepared, but with an injury early in the training schedule and only 7 weeks of training this is the best I can do.  I'm still hoping to finish around 2 hours and 45 minutes, which would shave 5 minutes of my PR, but I'm not sure if it's possible or not.  We shall see.  YES, I know that is a really SLOW time - have you noticed my blog title....I'm SLOW!!

As part of my long run, I also incorporated the Jelly Bean 10K hosted by Jess at Run with Jess.  I completed my 6.2 miles in 1:18:18.  Jack and I snapped a couple of race photos.  Jack really gets into blogging with me.  Thanks to Jess for hosting such a fun race!!  I just loved the Jelly Bean theme.  To get in the spirit, and to aid in recovery I purchased some Sport Beans.  That's me holding some sport beans in my hand in the first photo (below).

Tip of the Day:  Do not put Sport Beans in the little pouch on the back of your running pants!!  I went to take them out at about mile 7 and they were melted.....from my sweat......that's right....I had a handful of Sport Beans full of BUTT SWEAT......YUM!!  Wow, I just used the term butt sweat on my blog :)  Who wants some sweaty jelly butt beans?

Pre-race with Sport Beans still intact...Jack - "Mom I'll take some of those"

Seriously Mom.....a Bunny Mask......Seriously

Is he sticking his tongue out at me?

Ok Mom, one good one for all my fans!

The Boston Marathon – A Great Spectator Sport



My favorite runner!

Jim and I had a really great time in Boston.  It was seriously cool to see him run by me on Bolyston Street – at the same spot that many other famous runners have run by – just before finishing the Boston Marathon.  On this day, I also got to see Ryan Hall, and Geoffry Mutai (the winner of the Boston Marathon this year).  I saw runners in costume, runners in pain barely able to make it to the finish, and runners so elated with joy they could hardly contain it.  It was amazing!  

Jim heading out bright and early race morning

Ryan Hall

Tutu Guy

The crowds of people were insane.  The race started at 9:30 am (with the women’s runners) and then 10:00 am for the elite men and wave one.  I knew no one would cross the finish line before around 11:45 am, so I left my hotel room at 10 am and thought I would get to the finish line in plenty of time.  I was clearly an amateur.  When I arrived to the finish line area around 10:30 am there were literally thousands of people lining the streets.  I couldn’t get anywhere near the finish line.  I saw the grandstands across the street and they were only about half full so I thought – hey I just need to make my way over to the other side of the street and I’ll sit there.  This no easy task – you can't just “cross the street” of a major marathon.  I had to back track several blocks, when I finally got to the point where I could make my way up that side of the street – they had stopped all traffic.  I had to go yet another way – way up around the marathon and make my way back.  I was literally sprinting trying to find a spot, knowing that the longer it took to get to there the less chance I would have of getting a seat.  Then I finally found out that I was an IDIOT – the grandstands were for VIPs only and you had to have a pass – that would make sense for why they weren’t filled yet – I thought it was just because people couldn’t figure out how to get over to them.  I finally found a spot in line just a few minutes after 11 am – just in time to see the men’s winner running down to the finish.  The crowds were crazy – there were 3 rows of people in front of me, and probably another 3 rows behind, but everyone was cheering, screaming, and cow belling.  It was seriously awesome.

As mentioned, Jim had a PR for this race.  It was also his 10th marathon.  I was so proud of him.  He worked so hard just to make it to Boston, and to PR at Boston….well what a day!  I’ll let him tell you all the details of his race in his post.

Me & Jim on the subway

Other things about the trip to note:

·     We arrived on Friday afternoon.  The weather was FREEZING!!!  We knew it would be chilly, but somehow it seemed to be a lot colder than we were expecting.  We got checked into the hotel, and headed out to find the subway.  After a little frustration we found our way to the Subway and headed to Fenway Park Baby!!  It was alive with activity.  We waited over an hour to eat at Boston Beer Works, and then headed to the game.  It was pretty cool, but did I mention it was FREEZING?  It was hard to enjoy the experience because we were so cold – in spite of 4 layers of clothing, 2 pair of socks, and a stocking cap.

·     If you are ever in Boston go to the North End (Italian District) – it’s lined with 100s of little Italian restaurants.  Giacomo’s and Mike’s Pastry are a MUST!

Mike's Pastry - Cannoli

·     Harvard was really cool.  It’s a very beautiful campus.  However, DO NOT assume that a 400 year old church is just open for visitors.  Jim and I saw a bunch of people going in this old church, so we thought hey you must be able to tour it.  We walked in and were offered palm leaves, a Bible and a program……oops Palm Sunday service.  We forgot it was Sunday.  One of our top 10 most embarrassing moments!

Harvard Gates

·    Boston is a beautiful City!!  You walk A LOT!!  I know I walked at least 6 or 7 miles a day while I was there.

·     Do not go to the bathroom in an airplane when there is turbulence or you will get to spend way too much time in the bathroom.  I was in the potty when some serious turbulence hit.  I started to come out and the flight attendant yelled – “Get back in the bathroom and sit down and hold on!”  I was stuck in the bathroom for about 10 minutes.  YUCK!

Lots more fun stuff to share, but I don’t want to make this post toooooo long.  All in all we had a great time.  Definitely worth the trip if you ever qualify for Boston or love someone who does!