20 Miles on the Blue Line

I did it! 20 Miles on the Blue Line--13 of them with Marta, Angie, and Jeanine, and the remaining 7 by myself. Without crying. Without music. I f--ing did it.

In the past two weeks I've gone back to school (officially--I actually started work two weeks before that), figured out my kids' schedules with school and marching band (hell, basically), continued my training in the best way I could, and lost a LOT of sleep.

This is EXACTLY how I look before teaching first period each day.

This getting up at 4:30 is for the birds.

Nevertheless, I persist, and slowly but surely I am starting to get back in the swing of things.

This Saturday was the big 20 miler before the Akron Marathon. It's called the Blue Line Run, and Vertical Runner and NEOFit sponsor it. About 300 runners meet at 7AM to run 20 miles of the marathon route or 12 miles of the half marathon route. It's a great event, and it's completely free.

This is a partial picture of the runners before the run. Do you see me?

Marta and I found each other right away and took a selfie while we were still alive and pretty.

The weather was perfect; it started in the 50's and by the time I finished it was about 70 degrees. It was definitely better than last year's run.

Marta and I ran with Angie and Jeanine, and I saw lots of peeps along the way. Everybody looked strong and happy.

Here we are looking strong and happy.

After 13 miles, Marta peeled off to finish on the trails, and I continued on alone because I was afraid I would lose my will to live. The run started in front of Canal Park, and the 12 mile water stop was in the starting place. From there I moved to W. Market St. and then down Merriman to look at the gorgeous houses. I was pretty much alone most of the time because I am not the swiftest distance runner, but I did run with a Kent State professor that everyone (except me) seemed to know. He was older than me, but he was kicking my ass all the way down Merriman.

On the way back to downtown Akron, I ran through a Pride parade in Highland Square and a Pokemon Go tournament around Cascade Plaza. How great is it that on a Saturday morning in late August there were three separate events going on to involve diverse interests? I am truly happy to live here.

The water stops were at miles 6.5, 12, and 17, and I was grateful for each one. Thank you to NEOFit and Vertical Runner for supplying water, Powerade, gels, and Swedish Fish!  At the mile 17 stop, I joked that I was hoping to get hit by a car so I wouldn't have to finish the run, but the fact is that I felt so much better at that stop than I had last year. I think much of it had to do with the weather, but I would like to believe that my training has paid off.  Last year I felt defeated after the Blue Line--like I would not be capable of running 6.2 more miles--but this time I was tired, but I knew I could do this. It may and probably will hurt, but I can finish.

Victory is mine! The end of the Blue Line and I am still alive.

I was pretty wrecked for the rest of the day because I had not slept much all week, so I recovered in the best way possible:

This is EXACTLY how I recover from the Blue Line!

I'm not gonna lie; there may have been some Pumking and pizza involved that day, too.

I'm pretty proud of myself. I finished this run without drama, and I feel good. I think my training has been very good so far, and now I just have to trust that I put in the miles and the hard work.

I have four weeks until the marathon, which is a little too long to taper. Next week I will run the Leave No Trace Half Marathon and the week after will be my last long run before the taper. Will we all survive the taper? Stay tuned to find out!

Will you join me at the Akron Marathon? How will you handle the extra week before taper? No matter what you do, I hope you run happy, Peeps!

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Blue Line 20 Miler!

The moment I have been dreading anticipating had finally arrived this morning: my first 20 mile training run.  I saved this moment for the Vertical Runner/NEOFit Blue Line Run, an annual tradition in Akron where about 300 runners follow a shortened version of the Akron Half or Full Marathon by running the Blue Line painted on the course.

It is literally a blue line painted throughout Akron.

It is really a wonderful event.  Vertical Runner raffles an entry to the Akron Marathon, and NEOFit mans the fluid stations on the course, and it's all free!

I was nervous about this run because the longest run I had done previous to it was 17 miles.  I thought I would feel confident after completing the Ragnar WV Trail Relay, but actually I felt worse because I was worried that I might have jacked up my foot on the trail.  Plus, I had the most exhausting week EVER: three open houses + my daughter's first football game in the marching band.  I didn't go to the game, but I waited up until she got home around midnight.  I don't think I got more than four hours of sleep on any given night this week.  All of these factors combined made for a very anxious Stephani this morning at 7:00.

Do you see me in this picture?  You shouldn't because somehow I missed the photo-opp.

I ran with Shelby and Sydney for the first ten miles.  We took it nice and slow, stopping to fuel at the first NEOFit aid station at 6.5 miles.  We kept up our predicted marathon pace for a while, and at mile 10 Sydney decided to drop back.

Honestly, I felt great up until mile 15; then I started aching, and I could feel a lot chafing in areas where you really don't want to feel anything at all.  It was hot, and the hills were starting.  Shelby could sense that I was shutting down, so she tried to distract me by talking about food, which normally works.  This time, though, I just couldn't concentrate enough to talk or even think about anything.  I needed to "go dark," which is my way of shutting down and concentrating on my breathing and my body.  I told Shelby what I was doing, and luckily she understood.  I just concentrated on making it to the mile 17 aid station, where I would allow myself to fuel and stretch.

One of my goals for the marathon is to only walk during fueling, and today I failed.  There were three short hills in miles 16, 18, and 19 where I just needed to walk a bit.  In mile 16 I needed to stretch my hamstrings, so I walked to take long strides. In miles 18 and 19 I was in a lot of pain and I needed to take some walking breaks.  None of them lasted more than a quarter mile, but there it is.

We finished twenty miles in 3:35:54.  Not bad, really.  I felt terrible when we finished--dizzy, lots of pain in my calves and my chafing areas.  Shelby and I stretched while I drank a protein shake, and then we celebrated with a selfie:

Post 20 miler on the Blue Line with Shelby. Everything hurts and I'm dying. @akronmarathon @verticalrunner03 #akrun

A photo posted by Stephani Itibrout (@itibrout) on Aug 27, 2016 at 9:28am PDT

I would like to say that this run gave me a lot of confidence for the marathon, but it really hasn't.  The whole day I've been wondering how I can possibly do SIX-POINT-TWO MORE MILES than I did today.  Shelby reminded me that the weather will be much better at the end of September, and it is true that my runs are pretty much bound by the weather.  The responses to my social media posts have also shown me that others (who are much more experienced than I am) were in just as much pain, so maybe it isn't just me, and maybe this is a typical experience.  If so, I hope it bodes well for the marathon.

I have spent the day alternating between moving around and resting:

Recovery from my first 20 miler with my @bondi_band compression socks. Want some of your own? Discount with my code TroubleRun.

A photo posted by Stephani Itibrout (@itibrout) on Aug 27, 2016 at 9:23am PDT

And I finished my day with a dirty martini:




I'd like to thank Vertical Runner and NEOFit for a great event.  The volunteers were so great, and the water was cold! Now I'm going to "go dark" and stop analyzing everything I do. I've got four weeks until the race, and I will continue to do my best to train for it.

Until then, run happy, Peeps!

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Blue Line Test Run

I voluntarily woke up at 4:45 am on a Saturday to run the Akron Blue Line with a couple hundred crazy runners.  The Blue Line Training Run is a free event sponsored by Vertical Runner where runners can check out part of the course for the Akron Marathon and Half Marathon.  Other contributors were Northeast Ohio Fit, the Towpath Turtles, YMCA Marathon 101, and New Balance.  Thanks to these sponsors, runners had aid stations with water, Gatorade, and PowerBar Gels along the mapped out 12- and 20-mile routes, as well as goody bags with PowerBars.  Some lucky ducks even got free socks!

Runners starting to gather for the start.  I am in the bottom left corner in the pink shorts.  Photo credit:  Vertical Runner

David and I meet up at the beginning. 

I didn't get to run this event last year because of my broken foot, but I did run the aid station for the Towpath Turtles, which you can read about here.  I was so excited to run with my peeps: Joy, Mandy, Carrie, and Renee.  Even the sucky weather (soooo hot and muggy) couldn't keep us from having a great time.

I'm not gonna lie:  it wasn't easy.  I thought I was going to have a leisurely run through Akron, but the  Badasses I run with had different ideas.  I was just happy to be able to hang with them (even though, as I reminded them, I am MUCH older than all of them).  I definitely dropped back in the last mile and a half, but I am ok with that.

PreRun Fuel:  Panera Blueberry Bagel and cream cheese, coffee with Thin Mint creamer, water

Fuel during Run:  Chocolate Outrage GU (1).  I probably should have taken a second around mile 9 or 10.  Lots of water.

Post Run Fuel:  1/2 cup milk with two tablespoons Carnation Instant Breakfast Drink, fried egg and cheese sandwich, 1/2 avocado, 1/2 tomato, spinach, 3 radishes.

Right now I am starving.

The Blue Line Training Run is one of the big events that make Akron such a great place to live.  I love that our local running stores are so involved in the community, and I especially love that we have such a large and supportive running community.  Everywhere I turned, I saw runners talking, laughing, and encouraging each other.  While it wasn't the easy run I envisioned, it was definitely a great time.  AND. . . I treated myself to this medal as a reward for last week's tempo run from hell and this week's test run.

Two tough twelve milers = 1 Tardis medal!

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