Tuesday, March 27, 2012

I must confess...

Right now I'm having trouble writing this blog.  Last weekend I was supposed to run 35 miles as preparation for running 50 miles in April.  Recently my old friend IT band friction syndrome crept up and took hold of my knee making it impossible for me to run my training distance and almost forced me to stop at the half way mark.  Fortunately I found some wonderful people to walk the second half with me. 

Anyhoo, my training did not get done. and I'm left wondering if I can even do the marathon distance in April.  I'm seeing a sports med doc and a Physical Therapist to get the issues under control.  And according to some people, I cant really say I have run an ultra unless I have run 50 miles.  I guess there are multiple opinions out there because at Cowtown I was given a shirt and award that clearly said "Ultra" on it. 

So you may not hear from me for a while. 

Monday, March 26, 2012

So Fast Forward

After running several marathons after that, my times continued to get better, until I peaked at 4 hours 10 minutes.  I was running in Carlsbad California, I had gone to San Diego with my mom and brother to visit my moms sister, Aunt Margaret.  We stayed with her then drove the Carlsbad the night before the marathon.  It was about a 45 minute drive.

I don't remember the start of this race.  At the time I was not even focused on running it quickly.  I was just running comfortably and kept a good pace along the California Coastline enjoying the views and the beautiful weather.  I remember the surfers coming up out of the ocean to take a break from their waves to cheer us on.  I also remember beautiful seas side homes, beach shacks and friendly aid stations.

I remember trying to keep my pace strong as I finished and tried to hang with a couple folks I had run several miles with and I did really well until the very end.  I had a strong finish and did not even realize how close I was coming to a real marathon landmark.  The sub 4 marathon.

That unattained goal would haunt me, yet that PR would stick with me until the winter of 2011...That's how long it took me to break that personal best in Carlsbad California.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

That was the past...

So that was my first marathon experience.  I went on to train and run the Midsouth Marathon that same year in November.  My training was better, I had friends pacing me on my 20 miler.  Sheila meet me an ran 10 miles with me.  I ran 5 on my own, then Debbie meet me for the last 5 miles. 

On race day my friend Cindy ran 4 to 13 miles with me and Hollowell ran 13 to 26 with me.  My finish: 4:43!  Well with in my goal.

I have to tell you that at mile 20 a fresh orange slice handed to you by a volunteer can be the most succulent of amazing foods you will ever eat.  Steve grabbed about 3 in each hand and handed them to me as we trecked down the highway.  He also mixed my Gatorade and water cocktails for me and shielded me from the wind.  I don't think it would have been as fun or easy with out the two of them. 

I also passed a former training buddy who scoffed at my desired finish time and running pace as too slow.  We did two training run together until he decided I was running too slow and he wanted to finish much faster than I was planning to finish and running-dumped me.   I passed him at mile 22.  He went out way too fast and died someplace between mile 13 and 18.  Every race after that I made it my personal mission to finish ahead of him. I beat him again the following year at Midsouth...again.

I took home an award that day also.  Second in my age division! 

This was also the first marathon I told my parents about.  They drove up with their RV and camped at the state park.  We grilled burgers that night and roasted marshmallows, of course it took me a while before I could eat.  The extra effort I put forth on this run truly made a difference on how I felt afterward.  I was unable to eat at all until 6:30 that evening, I felt nauseous during the awards presentations and nearly threw up the home baked cookie I had eaten post race.  I learned its a dangerous game you play with the long run and staying hydrated and nourished to the end.  Its a delicate line between awesome running and injury.  run to the end of that line, but be sure not to cross it....

Well, it was momentus...

In my last post I sort of left my first marathon achievement in the cold.  Yes it was exciting that I completed my first marathon.  I was happy that I completed it.  It is just I knew in the back of my mind that I did not work as hard at it as I could have.  But I have to keep reminding my self that simply completing was the point.  I do thinks very step by step.  Focus on one thing at a time, complete that, then go for more later.

I do want to acknowledged the lovely volunteer at mile 13 who ran down to me and took my water bottle, asked me what I wanted and had it filled and waiting for me by the time I actually got to the end of the aid station.  I want to give Kudos to the radio disk jockey camped out under the Cantrell road train bridge blasting hip hop music.   There were lots of wonderful things that happened on that day.

However, there were much more exciting things to come....

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Marathon Day

So with my training done, clothing picked out, laundry done, dinner pre-prepared and the house cleaned.  I embarked on my first marathon.

When I described all this to one of my friends, about the house cleaning and dinner preparing, she stated "You were preparing for death!".  I guess I was.  I was prepared for how I was going to feel after this thing was done.  Driving home after running 26.2 miles and functioning for the rest of the evening.  I did not want to have to do anything but sit, and eat my prepared dinner...

So of course I was overdressed for the day, too many layers of clothing because you are worried that you may get stranded in the middle of nowhere, lost, injured and thus left for dead at mile 18 with absolutely no shelter....

 Well, that did not happen.  I simply shed the outer layer and tied it around my waist at mile 18.  I trudged along at a very very slow pace, drank water, had my Gu, and completed the race with little to no hoopla.  It was pretty uneventful.  I drove home, of course, sore, washed off the salt that had accumulated under my eyebrows in a hot shower and settled on the couch.  My finish time was 5 hours 23 minutes....

I called my brother,

Me: "Hey, I did the marathon today."...

Brother "Oh, that's cool"

Me "yeah,  want to come over for soup"

Brother..."Mmm I don't think so"

Me.."Ok, well I'll have leftovers if you want 'em"



After hanging up I thought to my self....I can do better than 5 hours 23 minutes.  So I decided to register for another.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Marathons are cool...

So after getting a good feel for the longer distance running, I decided to go for the next big challenge.  The Marathon.  Everything I read about running your first marathon focused on finishing.  Finishing uninjured and wanting to do another.  It seems that most people with marathon on their bucket list quit running after they achieve that goal.  I was determined not to be that statistic.

At the time some of the girls I was running with in the mornings were training for marathons.  I decided that if they could do it, I could do it.  I accompanied them on their training runs and then developed a training plan of my own that would get me to the Little Rock Marathon in March 2005.  My goal, to finish, and go on to do a second.

I do things a little differently than most.  I started training for this marathon without really telling anybody.  I figured the fewer people who knew, the fewer people I would have to explain things to if it did not go well.  My family did not know, most of my friends did not know.  A couple co-workers knew, and a couple running friends who would help me with training. 

I remember my first 20 miler, I was in Lake Charles LA celebrating Mardi Gras with my cousins.  I was staying with my cousin Dece and the night before we went around her neighborhood in her car and drove off a 20 mile route.  It was pretty easy considering Lake Charles is very flat and the blocks are all square miles.  The next day I got up and took of at a very slow pace (finishing was the goal)  I took my phone and water bottle and started off on the run alone.  About midway through I got a couple check up calls.   but beyond that I did my first 20 completely by myself.  As I was making my way back down Dece's street, I saw her pulling out of her side street.  she looked my direction and smiled.  I waved my hands in victory because I was almost done. when I finished she was waiting for me on the porch and said " I was about to come looking for you"  I looked at my watch and I was 35 minutes later that the time I had predicted finishing "Oh, I'm sorry! " I frantically started to apologize. She just smiled, laughed,  and shook her head.  It was a good day. 


Monday, March 19, 2012

yes... It says WINNER

Yes!  Winner, The placard on the little wooden chest said "Winner" .  You will never imaging how amazing it felt to finally be good at something!

Oh will, enough of that.  I continued to run 5k's occasional 10K's and every now and then, depending on who would show up on a given day, I could actually win in my age group.  Occasionally an overall award on the really obscure races.  I began to accumulate quite a collection of awards and finisher medals...

I keep them all at my office.


So 5K's and 10K's are nice and all but somehow, I got information about the half - marathon.  It may have been Hollowell, or somebody else who mentioned it.  I think I just got on the Arkansas runner website and found it, but I registered for Midsouth half marathon.  Once I was running 10 to 11 miles consistently, I figured it was doable.

This is when I decided the half marathon was the greatest thing in the world.  I just told myself I was out for a nice early morning run.  I ran relaxed and had a great time.  Unlike the 5K where you just go out and kill yourself for 3 miles.  A half marathon is longer and slower and wayyyy more fun!...Perfect.

So I finished my first half marathon and ...ok....finished second in my age division!  Again I was a winner!  Of course it was a small race and most of the fast people were running the full marathon that day so I'm sure it was lucky engineering on my part.    That race was followed by St Judes half in Memphis where I traveled with Steve and Cindy and had a grand time and ran within a few seconds of my Midsouth run.  This was before the Garmin existed to me, so this was unaided and totally by accident.   

Of course as you can predict...the natural progression is The Marathon...

And this is how I became an addict

So I was running my first 5K, competitively.  I had no idea who these people were I was running with, where they came from, but there were LOTs of them.  

I continued  running down the hill and then made the sharp corner into the parking lot at the end of my first 5K.  It was pretty amazing, but at that point, not entirely aware of how amazing.  I joined the other finishers under a spray of misting water nozzles past the finish line and quzzled water from a bottle handed to me by a volunteer.  It was July, in Arkansas, in the humid evening.  It was madly hot in the small valley where we finished the race.  I advanced from the finish area and rejoined my cousin and friends.  I was thrilled at how much fun it turned out to be.

We settled into lawn chairs and had beer and food and waited as many other finishers came through the finish line.  I had no idea about finish times, place, age group awards, masters, grandmasters, the grand prix. And when my cousin asked me what my time was I responded "what time?", he was like " you didn't look at the clock when you crossed the finish line?" I was like "....clock?"  I was clueless.

So awards began.  I was excited to hear who the winners were. The awards continued...on and on broken down into Male and Female in 5 year categories.  "Female age 30 to 34, 3rd place with a time of [I cant remember] Lisa Luyet from North Little Rock AR"....I was a little confused.  Steve looked at me and yelled, "go get your award!"....huh?  award?  really?

Apparently I was the third fastest female age 30 to 34 at Dam Nite run in 2004!  If that won't get you hooked to something, I don't know what will. 

So this was a sport that I not only could play in, but I actually have something that says "Winner"  not just "participant"...it said "Winner".  Yes, Lisa, the awkward basketball player that got hit in the face with the ball that never returned a serve in Volley ball and crashed her bike, was a WINNER!  omg.

What? People do this to win things?

My first real 5K was at Lake Degray.  I say first "Real" because I had been in several 5K's in the past, but never had I ever thought of actually running the whole thing.  During those times, my idea of a 5K was a charity event.  Walking with your friends for an hour to raise some money and get a shirt.  I did not even know the pack of 50 to 150 people in the front of the pack of walkers, running to complete the course under 30 minutes even existed.

It began on Easter, 2004 I was at my cousins house for our annual Easter gathering and I told my cousin Steve I had started running, I told him my last run was 7 miles.  I had progressed to doing the Two rivers loop twice, then I moved my runs to a closer park into town and was doing 3.5 mile out n backs.  I did not really think much of this accomplishment. At this point, my objective was burning calories and eating a normal diet to maintain my weight.  I never, ever thought my running 7 miles was any great achievement.  Hist response was much to the contrary.... "7 Miles???!!!" he was ecstatic. He promptly invited me to the Dam Nite Run.  A 5K down the big hill at Lake Degray visitor center, and runs across the dam, then into a parking lot where there is a pot luck, party and tailgating.  It was a spectacle of a race with log trucks toting the runners from the parking area to the start area.  The crowd was a-buzz, I was chatting with my cousin, his girlfriend, her friends and we were having a great time. Then it all got silent.

I don't know if you have experienced this before, but the silence after a flurry of activity is always intense, like taking a big exam and the nervous energy that squelched into a focus on one task.  That is the kind of silence I noticed when the start gun went off and the runners focused their energy on one task.  The only sound for several seconds was footsteps.  All around me, it was the first time I had run in a crowd of people and the silence was incredible.  suddenly, yet slowly downed out by the sound of rubber soles padding on the asphalt.   The sound of running feet was all around me.  I was not sure what to do. ...well, I ran, of course, but beyond that ....just feet .

Sunday, March 18, 2012

The Mill is Not Enough

So, running on a treadmill is great, but, for some reason my psyche seems to see the attainment of one goal as a reason to set a new one.  As for some reason you can't just stop and be satisfied with where you are, you need to become more.  I decided to move my running outdoors.  The exact timing of this event is unknown, the actual motivation is unknown.  But I found myself at two rivers park working to make it around the three mile loop without stopping to take a walk break. 

I would make the 30 minute drive from my home in North Little Rock to the park in West Little Rock and start out down the path.  I joined a running website for pointers on how to eat to fuel running versus eating to maintain a certain weight. 

When transitioning from treadmill to asphalt a lot of things become real to you.  The treadmill in no way compares to running on a road.  Treadmills use a motor to push you along, asphalt does not.  Treadmills have cushy surfaces, asphalt does not.  Treadmills are in climate controlled environments, asphalt is hot.  Treadmills stay in one place, keep the same scenery and bore you with the same routine every time you hop on, asphalt does not.  Asphalt takes you places....in more ways than one, thus began the traveling...

Of course the big trips were much farther in the future at that point.  This is the point where I was introduced to the world of road running and road racing by my cousin, Steve Hollowell.  ...

Saturday, March 17, 2012

And the running started ... Here.

So, that got me eating less, but did not get me running.  Eating less got me down to 115 lbs.  That was perfect.  The costume ordered in December had to be taken in and darted for a proper fit.  I was tiny and indestinguishable from my younger dance partners.  It was great! 

Growing up we would witness this though at dance school  Girls would be over weight, lose weight on an exchange diet, be this for two months then go back to their old habits.  My dance teacher would see a girl lose weight and just shake his head and say..."just wait, wait and see how long she keeps it off.  "  and sure enough with in 6 months time the girl would be back where she started.   Heavy.  And my dance teacher would just smirk and say. " what did I tell ya?"   So when I lost weight, I decided I would not be one of those people becasue I knew he was thinking the same thing about me that he thought about those other girls and I was determined to be the exception.   I needed something that would allow me to eat a satisfying amount of food each day yet keep my wieght down. 

At the time I had a job in Haskell AR, which was about a 30 minute drive from my home. A friend who worked there was a member of a gym in a city what was between Little Rock and Haskell and he would go there before work.  I decided to do the same.  I joined the gym, left my house at 4:30 every morning, got to the gym by 5am.  I walked on a treadmill for about 20 minutes then did weights before work.  That was pretty easy.  I kept this pattern up for quite a while, the challenge was to be the first in the cardio room so I could watch my favorite news channel before the old people got in there and took over all the televisions.

This pattern was pretty sucessful, my weight stayed steady, until one day I saw a girl in the gym, running on the treadmill.  I watched her for a couple days thinking...."wonder if I could keep something like that up for 10 minutes"?  I did some research....running is the most effecient way to burn calories, I read....hmmmm that sounds pretty good...and pretty easy,  So the next day, I tried it.  I ran half a mile then walked a half mile.  ....and that started the running....

First blog

Hello!  All you folks out there in Blog land!  I'm blogging!  I hear it's all the rage. 

So I was suffering from IT Band syndrome the other day and decided to throw all my shoes in the trash....well, the local charity recycle box, not so much the trash.  For some reason, whenever I get an ounce of knee pain I have to have a total shoe makeover.

 You see, I'm a runner.  I like to run.  I can't run fast so I have decided to shift my focus to running long.  Running long requires little to no higher intellectual function.  It's not a team sport where if you lose focus a basketball hits you in the face thrown by a team mate who would never ever throw it to you because they know you would muck it up, and only threw it to you because you were the absolute absolute last open player on the field put into the game when the very last available player got fouled out.  

Running long only requires that you put one foot in front of the other over and over again, eat properly and maintain hydration.  Sounds simple right?  Well for the most part those are simple concepts, yet they seem time and time again to foil the most expertly laid plans by the most highly trained individuals.

I guess I should tell you what led me to running in the first place.  Just to give you a frame of reference. because it seems the proper thing to do, considering we just met.

I never ran when I was a kid or a teenager, I did not run track in high school, I did not run races and 5K's with overly health conscious parents and I was not a sport pursuing individual.  I would start a sport because my friends were doing it, then realize I was failing miserably, then drop out in the middle of the season...because I usually got hit in the face with the ball.  I went to a small Catholic school that had limited resources and coaches that had little or no patience to actually teach a kid how to play a sport.   

In high school I lacked the upper body strength to hit a free throw in PE, or to serve a volley ball over the net.  I was scared of the ball so much the opposing team would make a point to server it at me for guaranteed score.  My teammates hated me and I would look at the PE teach and tell her, "I don't play sports for a reason".   

Thank goodness in college you get to play golf, and take ballet for Physical education.  Fortunately, dance classes taken during my childhood kept me some what fit in spite of my total dysfunction in sports.  I took an array of dance classes in college for fulfill my Phys Ed credits.  Thank goodness for college!!!

After dance classes and biology classes and some physics and chemistry I graduated with a degree in Environmental Heath Sciences and went out in the world to start my career.  Bought a house, started working the 8 to 5 and that is where the significant weight gain started. 

So I was never a tiny person.  I always had a little extra meat on me growing up but never out of my weight range.  During my early working days I stopped dance classes and my weight go a little high.  I was up to 150 on a 5foot frame....too big.  Trust me, I have the photos (some place) to prove it.

After settling into my career and my home I restarted my love for dance and went back to my childhood dance studio.  I quickly got back into the groove of tap, jazz and ballet and put into the advanced class.  I was not losing any weight, since the duration and vigor of the classes was not enough to work off the lunches out with co workers and home cooked dinners I loved to fix.    Then upon getting a glimpse of the recital costume I was to wear in June ( it was December) I decided I was much too large to wear the shimmery lemay, low rise, crop top one shoulder number our teacher had picked out for us.  I was 32 years old in a class where I could out dance 17 year olds.  But I was too fat to look good in the costume and that fact alone, made my life choice obvious.  I had to do something. 

The Internet is great.  with just a few keystrokes I was served the grim reality, the dirty truth, the words that I have refused to describe my self as ....because I was in denial.  ...."Overweight"...BMI calculator says...."Overweight"  Solution.  "Decrease calorie intake by 200 calories per day to lose 20 lbs in 5 months".   So .....there ya have it...my motivation....and solution in with just a few keystrokes....