Seattle Marathon/Marathon Maniac/What I learned

I toyed with what to entitle this post and that was the best I could come up with...lol. This will be long and rambling, so bear with me:)

2.5 years ago I started running as a way to get my work out in when I started Weight Watchers. I had not done much of anything for a long time, in part due to a knee injury from high school. Well, that excuse was out the window since I had knee surgery(ACL reconstruct) in 04...lol. I decided on running because it was the quickest way to get my work out in. I started out doing a piddly little 1/2 mile on the treadmill. Not only did it feel incredibly awkward at first as I had not run in YEARS and took me a bit to get my stride where it was comfortable, but that 1/2 mile also about killed me...lol. I would watch and watch the distance on the treadmill to get to the half mile mark so I could stop. That started to get easier eventually and I bumped it up to 3/4 mile and then a mile, etc. I got the hairbrained idea to do a 5K just 6 short weeks after starting running. My first race was in Sept 07. That was the beginning of the end so to speak...lol. I didn't do any more races for about 7 months, but continued on with my running. I did 16 races in latter half of 08-including my first half marathon that was a whim and ended up with me on crutches afterwards. 09 is coming to a close with 20 races under my belt-3 of them being marathons. In 2010, I'm planning to take it easy with races and work on my running(want to improve pace), but we shall see if I stick with that...lol.

In my running journey, I have gained not only a large number of online friends(some of which I recognize and enjoy seeing at local races), but also a true friend that I will have for life, my running partner, Rochelle. One of my races, the Iron Girl 5K in Seattle, is an all girl race. So I sent out a text message to all my girlfriends inviting them to come with me. I got one lone response-who later admitted she felt bad for me that no one else said they'd go with...lol. She was a non-runner at that point as well. She started running on the treadmill and we did the race and she was hooked! We started running after work together-I told her, yeah here's where I run, I just put my headphones on and go, so show up if you feel like it. Well, she did, and we'd both put our headphones on and just run. We usually ran 2 miles-our 'long' runs were 3 miles or so...lol. Gradually, our distance increased, as did the amount of time we talked while running. The ipods are usually left at home now when we run together and we chat-or bitch...we often refer to our runs as bitch sessions. Definitely a good alternative to therapy!

In my foray into the running world, I stumbled on the Marathon Maniacs. I sought out their website online and even though they were referring to the marathon distance, I identified with many of their traits already. Once I saw they were fans of Hooters, I knew it was meant to be. I set my mind to one day be a Marathon Maniac. Rochelle and I said that our goal was to do a marathon by the year we turned 25 and 35 respectively( which gave us until 2011). Like the rest of my running career though, I have to constantly seek out more, do more, etc. So after having 3 half marathons and more shorter races under my belt, I made the decision to run the Portland Marathon this year. I had already planned to do the Seattle half again this year, and figured ok, if I'm going to run a marathon, I might as well become a Maniac and do the full. That just meant one more race to find and it worked out that TriCities was in between those 2 and I could combine it with a visit to a good friend at the same time. My plan was in place!

Halfway through the year, Half Fanatics came to be and I immediately sought them out as well and was happily accepted in after applying. Half Fanatic #57! I am always amazed at the kindness, friendship and camaraderie that comes from being a runner-and those traits are just magnified in this fraternity! Wearing a Fanatic shirt at a race is a guaranteed way to have immediate friends and cheerleaders throughout the race(not just from the Fanatics, but the Maniacs as well).

Training for the marathon was incredibly time consuming as I'm not a fast runner. It put me in a different mindset, I knew I had mileage marks to hit every week and long runs on the weekend to do(and recover from). It meant making a few changes such as not staying out late on Fridays since I had to do my long run on Sat. Bill was the absolute best supporter I could ask for. He cooked so much while he was home to allow me to get my runs in after work. He would pick me up if I needed it. He rubbed achey body parts. He got me ice for my ice baths.

Each of the marathons was such a different experience. For Seattle, I had been sick the 2 weeks prior and not running as I should have been, so I let my voice of reason kick in and walked that one. I had fleeting thoughts of running, but knew it wasn't the best idea and set it as my goal just to cross the line-plus, since the man is due home approx 48 hours after I finished, being healthy for him was more important that other personal quests I may have had. I did end with my first blister though-not bad for as many miles as I've run. I was initially worried that I had a lot of blisters as the bottoms of my feet were killing me through the race, every time I took a step and my socks rubbed on my feet I thought for sure I had blisters. I think I just need new shoes. I have learned that all miles are not created equal. My first pair of running shoes, lasted me about 350 miles. For my marathon training I alternated 2 pairs and each has about 150 miles. But you put more of a beating on your shoes doing 16-18 mile training runs, than you do with short little runs. I was amazed, as I always am, at the different people I see at races. Elvis, Pink TuTu man, all the Maniacs and Fanatics, the Army guy running with a full pack, the guy walking it on crutches, the people of all different sizes and ages. Not to mention the volunteers-they are there through the end, with smiles on their faces! Rochelle came with me, and sat and sat and waited for me to finish-got picked up on in the process, haha! It was so nice to have her with me at the finish!

Upon returning home from Seattle, though I was sore and tired, I very excitedly sent in my request to be allowed into the Insane Asylum and am happy to say that I am now Marathon Manaic #1993!!

Now, a much needed and deserved rest! I plan on enjoying time with the man who is due home tomorrow!! No more races this year, but am planning to start the year off with the Resolution Run 5K and Polar Bear Dip! After that, who knows!