we’ve started a little slower this week, getting our first run in yesterday – a 3miler after work. it’s hard to find the right time to run with these short days – in the morning when it’s light, we can’t consistently wake up and get out there (plus it can be a little cold) – but in the evening when we get home from work we’re tired and it’s getting dark already. if only we could find a way to run at 2:00pm in the middle of the work day…maybe we’ll figure it out – and start hitting the treadmills at the gym when the temperature really drops.

we’ve got some speed work to do either tomorrow or friday, and then another 90 minute run for the weekend. looking forward to another accomplished week.

jesse and i have offically begun training for two half marathons: 3m & LIVESTRONG, in january and february 2011.

since completing the austin marathon in february, i have all but stopped running…and since moving away from our gym in august, i have ignored exercising all together.

needless to say, picking up and training again will be both challenging and exciting. especially since jesse will be running with me.

also in my future is the oklahoma city memorial marathon in may 2011 that i will run with my brother zack and my cousin nancy. getting these two halfs under my belt will be an important step in training for my third marathon.

alright, team chin, let’s go out there and be the best at exercising.

slowly but surely, day 1: 3miles down

will keep ya’ll updated once we get the ball moving…should get in a few rides/swims/runs in the next week and a half, but we’re not going to beat ourselves up over the training schedule quite yet.

to start off, there were a few things that went great on race day:

1. the weather. it started out chilly, so i had my jacket on, but by mile 3 i had tied it around my waist and was ready to hand it off to jesse at the 10k mark. it was a gorgeous, clear, sunny, warm day – - nothing like the windy, cloudy, cold afternoon that would come later. i was extremely thankful for the weather – sometimes that makes all the difference in the world.

2. i ate enough on the route. last marathon, i felt like i didn’t get enough fuel, but this time around i was constantly eating GU, jelly beans, and drinking water and gatorade. spectators along the route also gave us M&Ms, oranges and bananas, which i was more than happy to eat…

3. jesse (and eventually our friend toews) followed me along the whole route and gave me the support i needed when i needed it most. also my friends caitlin, emily and joel saw me along the last few miles and that really made me push it to the finish line. the spectators and volunteers were awesome and there were so many of them, it was really encouraging.

4. i had the best playlist for the last 5 miles. many of you know that i only listen to the white stripes on my long runs, but i knew that if i were going to go past the 4 hour mark (which i did) i might need a little more variety in my tunes. so at the back end of 5 white stripes albums, i listened to:

dead weather: cut like a bu ffalo, treat me like your mother
dr. dog: hang on, army of ancients
k’naan: wavin’ flag, take a minute
jay-z: we run this town, empire state of mind
kanye west: amazing
ra ra riot: dying is fine, oh la
repeat k’naan until finish line

now onto the things that sucked

1. my knee. i felt it from mile 1 until the end. it didn’t start being painful until mile 13, after the hill section (which wasn’t nearly as long as i thought it was going to be…it still sucked, but i guess it could have been a lot worse). because the course was so crowded for the first half (what with 15,000 runners and all), i was doing  a lot of side stepping to get around people…plus i was probably running too fast for my own good…by the time i got to jesse at mile 14, i thought i wasn’t going to make it. i stopped for a second and my knee just tightened up and wouldn’t let me get going again. i laid down, cried, stretched, and jesse just kept telling me to push on, it would get better. i popped a few more ibuprofen and started back on track. i walked for a few minutes and then pushed through the pain when i started running again – it took about 10 minutes for it to move from a sharp pain to the dull pain it had been for the previous 14 miles, and i decided never to stop again…although i slowed from a9 minute pace to a 12 minute pace, i was pushing through and had committed (re-committed) to finishing again.

2. my unrealistic expectations. i had wanted to finish the race in under 4 hours. which could have been realistic if i hadn’t hurt my knee and had been able to keep training for the last month. because of my injury, i wasn’t  able to run parts of the course like i had planned to do in the last month, keep up with my speed work, and get out on the asphault for some shorter distance, similar terrain runs. i didn’t quite come to the realization that i wasn’t going to make my goal time until halfway through the race…it was tough to admit to myself that i wasn’t going to do as well as i could have but once i realized it wasn’t “my fault” and i could still do my best and finish, i had the attitude i needed to push through to the end.

needless to say, i have learned alot from this experience and will definitely do things differently for my next marathon (like, not get injured…) i’m definitely going to do this again, but i think for the next year or two i’m going to focus on shorter distances. i would love to speed up my 5k and 10k and i think the half-marathon is a perfect, longer distance for me that i could potentially excel at. i’m excited to put the speed at the forefront of my routine and move the endurance, long distances to the back burner.

i still can’t believe this whole thing is over. it has definitely been a tough journey, especially this past month and i’m relieved to be done and ready to move on with my life.

if you’re up and interested, follow @jesseover for live-tweets, he’ll be biking around and following me all day. love that guy.

i was anticipating wearing a tank with pockets and some capri running tights, but it’s looking like i’m going to need a change of wardrobe. i’m actually okay with this because i prefer to run with my jacket so i can stuff it full of GU and jelly beans (and Ibuprofen) and i recently bought an ear warmer. but i would be lying if i said i wasn’t worried about freezing my buns off, and although the weather forecast now says it might be sunny, a little earlier it said it might rain. ugh. winter. give me a break.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2010

AM Clouds / PM Sun
High 55°F Low 33°F
Precip 10%
Wind: From N at 9 mph
Max. Humidity: 68%
Sunrise: 7:12 AM CT

although i haven’t been running much this past month, i feel strangely prepared for the marathon. jesse and i drove the route on sunday and it looks great – especially the 1st half. even the hilly section around mile 10 will be fun to run because it goes past beautiful houses and along the river. the last few miles are in familiar territory and mile 25 has a great view of the capital building where the finish line is.

at this point, i just want to run it…run it hard…and never run it again (until 2011, that is)

after my last long run and following knee pain, i took 2 weeks off of running…i did, however, keep exercising (swimming, yoga, elliptical) and decided that on monday i would try running a 5-10miler. i only made it 5 minutes before i could “feel my knee” and once i hit 2 miles i decided to quit because the feeling was intensifying (not painful, per se, but it didn’t feel right).

after that episode i was pretty pissed off. i have NEVER had knee problems before and certainly not anything this lasting…but after a day of rest i have a better outlook…i’ve done some reading on IT band issues and i’m fairly sure this is what i’m suffering from. i don’t think it’s severe (yet) and i have a plan to make it to the marathon.

i’m going to ice, rest, Ibuprofen, and stretch every day. i’m not going to do any impact cardio the rest of the week, and only going to swim/do yoga a few times to keep my body in shape. i plan to do 2 3-mile runs next week to warm up for the weekend. i’m hoping (and praying and praying and praying) that this additional week of “rest” will be just what my knee needs to recover and that i’ll be in stellar shape on race day.

i can’t even imagine what i’d do if my knee craps out on me during the marathon. probably head for the nearest bridge…

12 days until race day. get it together, body! don’t fail me now!!