'Twas the night before...

Just a quick note to capture what I'm thinking. After spending a long and wonderful day filled with laughter, tears (the Honoree stories just hit you in the right spot), and great food, it is the night before the race. So to commemorate, here's a little poem:

'Twas the night before the final race
And all through ARN's place
We watched 'Music and Lyrics'
With a smile on our face.

It was a way for us to relax
It was a way to cut the stress
Thinking about what's coming up
Thinking about our clothing, our dress

Tomorrow's the big day
It's finally here!
Thank you for all your support
Thank you for all of your cheers.

I'll try to write again after the race, but don't wait with baited breadth. 13.1 miles is going to be the longest I've ever ran in my life.

And I know it won't be the last time. :)

Butterflies

"Finally I'm a beautiful butterfly!"
- Heimlich (from Disney/Pixar's 'A Bug's Life')

Hee hee. I'm not talking about Heimlich as a butterfly (but he is hilarious!)...but the little rascals that are fluttering around in my stomach as I think about the big race! I can't believe it is only 3 days away. Friday. Saturday. SUNDAY!!!

I know I keep saying that, but it's true. :)

I've been trading emails back and forth with my friends around the logistics of both Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say, as we start to firm up plans, the little buggers in my tummy start flitting around more and more. My brain has shut down, but my body is ready to go!

I think I'm most excited about saying, "I DID IT!" To shout out to the world that I did what I set out to do. I *am* turning into a beautiful butterfly (but with bigger wings), just like Heimlich.

Remembering the last official Long Run

Today marks the official last Long Run for us before the actual race (which is just a week away) - EEEEE! I have to admit that it was a bittersweet moment. The run was actually quite beautiful. We ran in Santa Cruz from Natural Bridges to the Boardwalk then back and the entire time, I had my camera. I made a conscious decision to pack it in my pocket to commemorate this momentous event and to see if I can carry it so I can take pictures next week, too!

So here are some pictures from the day...


(some breaking sun through the overcast)


(my running partner, Dianne - the Garmin Guru)


(CYN joining us at our pace to "take it easy :) )

And, have I ever mentioned that on the long runs, they mark the course for us? What's brilliant is that some of the captains run earlier than us and mark the course with chalk arrows and mile markers so we know how far to go and where to turn around at. Like this one:


(proof that I made it to the 4 mile turnaround - hee hee)

But the best ones to see are the motivators which look like this:



Not too bad, huh? To have a few pictures (there are more but I'm afraid of making this post too long!) to remember what transpired. I think I'm one of those people who is OK living through the lens. Perhaps it is a fear of not remembering or maybe it is that I love cameras (I *am* Japanese, after all - ha!) but for today, I'm glad that I had it and I think I'm going to have it next week.

So, one more week. Two send-off/commemoration events. One Tuesday Night Clinic. And lots of days of rest! The countdown is on!!! :)

Weird Science

I'm feeling compelled to write as I think about what more I need to buy from one of my favorite stores, Sports Basement. (See? I like it so much that I even hyperlinked it! Ooohh...Ahhhh...) . This all goes back to an earlier post about how running long distances is all about experimentation. Literally. What to drink and eat that won't make me cramp, have to pee every 20 steps (I know, I know, "TMI! TMI!" but don't worry - there are much worse things I could have written - ha!), or hallucinate. Yes. That does happen to some people.

For some reason, I want to share with you what hasn't worked for me. Emphasis on *FOR ME* as I've already shared that everyone's bodies work in different ways.

• Fruit punch Gatorade - Really, this should be any non-lemon or non-lemon-lime Gatorade. Just too sweet and too much. I seem to be OK with the lemon based ones. Probably a throwback to my childhood where that was like the only flavor available and all of the parents thought they should give it to us when we were playing sports. Remember AYSO days? Yeah...you know what I'm talkin' bout!
  
• Gummy Candy - Man, I learned a lesson about that. I need salt/electrolytes, not sugar or else HORRIBLE headaches later in the day. But those darn little bears just look at me at the aide stations saying, "Eat me! I'm nice and sweet!" Evil, I tell you! Just evil! :)
  
• Only water - I know. Strange. But after my headache-y long run, I realized that only water doesn't cut it. It just goes right through (so back to the "every 20 steps then pee comment") and that's not good. I need some water but other things too.
  

So, what exactly does work?

• Drinking electrolytes - Definitely during a long run, but here's the tricky part. What kind? Watered down Gatorade (lemon-y, of course) seems OK, but I'm hoping something else will be better. Maybe cytomax? Maybe Nuun?
• Eating - My snacking will need to be something salty like pretzels or for that something sweet and satisfying desire, Cliff Bars - cut into tiny pieces. I'm also going to buy and try the little Luna Moons. The gummy treat with carbs, sodium and potassium! All.."yums" :)

I'll keep experimenting. Only 3 weeks until the big run! I actually got teary eyed thinking about crossing the finish line last night. Go Team!

It's Taper Time!

I've completed 12 miles!!!!!!!!!

Who hoo!! That means that yesterday, I completed enough mileage to make me feel even that much more confident about my ability to finish a half marathon and so, for the next few weeks, my long distance mileage tapers down to shorter long distances (like 6-8 miles, 4-6 miles) in preparation of the main event. :) Can you believe that I'm actually saying a "short" distance is 4-6 miles???? OMG...I can't believe it. Remember, a half marathon is 13.1 miles so yesterday, I only had 1.1 miles left (a little over 4x around a track). Soooo do-able!

Thank you. Thank you. I'd like to thank the Academy, my agent, and oh yeah, Team in Training and my running partner, Diane. There was (and will be) some pain (OK, a *lot* of pain), but there's been no tears, no blood (thank goodness!) and a lot of sweat but boy do I feel good. So in homage to all that is great and good, here's something just for all of us.

C O N S I S T E N T

Oh yeah, baby! Last night's Tuesday Track Workout confirmed that I am finally a semi-consistent runner. What was even more impressive was that I did the workout without feeling too much stress and strain on my body. Yeee-haawww!

The goal was to run two laps (800's) around the track. This was timed and we did it 5 times. What you wanted to do was to run that circuit approximately at the same pace each and every time. What was my time, you ask? Why thank you for asking! It was 5:35-5:45 each time. That is officially *UNDER* the maximum time allocated for a full marathon (you have to finish it in six hours). Neato! That means if I really wanted to, I could run a full marathon at that pace and actually finish it.

The question now is...would I ever run a full marathon? Ha ha ha. What do you think? :)

And the hits just keep on coming!

Hits? What hits? Like the Top 40 off of American Bandstand? (Ooh, that was a blast from the past) Or, perhaps like something that just keeps you down? Nah - none of the above. Just the fact that I'm still in this to complete it and nothing is going to stop me....nothing. :)

First off, Happy New Year! Here is my first entry for 2009 but definitely not my last. I can't believe that the new year is already upon us. Now is the countdown until race day. Just 4 short weeks until Feb 1st...less than a month...EEEEK!

At least I can say that I ran yesterday a whopping 10 miles. Yes. You read right. 10 miles! Ah ha! My running partner, Dianne (who by the way is an awesome running partner and fantastic conversationalist), motivated me into the last 2 miles as I was originally only going to do 8. But believe me, my body was like, "Please only do 8! You told us you'd only do 8! You lied!! Darn you!" (As you can see, my body was not the fantastic conversationalist as my running partner hence why I had to ignore it after a while because if it were just a conversation between me and my body, I would have wussed out at 6 miles instead). :)

So here's to new beginnings! The beginning of a healthier me. The beginning of the end of my official training to the KP 1/2. The beginning of the new year. The beginning of a different way of how to view the world.