This is it, Peeps. This is the moment for which I've been doing 400s at dark o'clock. This is the reason why I have been putting in insane miles on Sundays when everyone else is eating bagels and reading the newspaper. This is the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, and I'm running it tomorrow.
I'm not panicking. I'm not. I'm also NOT sitting in the corner in the fetal position, rocking.
The end of the school year timed with tapering has been a bit stressful for me. It was really nice to meet up with my fellow Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon Ambassadors on Friday evening at the VIP Reception after visiting the Expo.
I saw Rachel and Melissa first at the Expo (after I caught Holly on her way out):
We are like Charlie's Angels. . . only more badass.
I also spotted my name on the Ambassador list:
"I'm kind of a big deal." I can't even write that with a straight face.
And I bought a signed copy of Jill's book.
Get your copy and check out the back. You may find a blurb written by someone you know. *cough*
Then I hugged and laughed and took as many selfies as I could with my fellow Ambassadors:
Andrew is so serious now that he wears a tie.
Stephani(e)s squared!
Emily and Jessica
Melissa and I are together again!
The Hyatt Regency. So beautiful
Rachel, Sara, and Melissa
Our traditional group shot.
I missed some Ambassadors, and I hope to get pictures with them tomorrow. . .if I am not hiding under my bed. It was so overwhelming to see everyone, and I got confused about which pictures I took. I'd like to thank Jack Staph and Ralph Staph for including me in this wonderful experience of blogging for a race I love. I would like to thank Joan Freese, Kayla Henderson, and Mary Sutter for being my guides as a Rite Aid Cleveland Ambassador. Of course, I would like to thank all my fellow Ambassadors, YES, EVEN YOU, ANDREW. You all came into my life at a time where I was certain that I didn't want or need any more friends. I was so wrong. Most of all, I'd like to thank you, Peeps. It really gets me through the dark times when you tell me that you enjoy my blog or when you comment on any of my posts. Thank you.
Today I spent most of the afternoon working Commencement for Medina High School. This helped me not to fret so much. Then I did some housework and took a looooong nap. I so needed it. Now I'm trying to settle in because this is where the scary head game starts. I've applied my tattoo:
And I've laid out Flat Stephani:
This is the moment, Peeps, the moment where there is no room for self-doubt. I've trained really well; I need to trust the training. I got this; I do.
Will I see you at the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon tomorrow? I hope so. If you do see me, yell something--ANYTHING--at me, even "Your blog sucks!" I will take it as encouragement.
Until then, run happy, Peeps!
Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!
This was my second 20 miler ever. The first was the Akron Blue Line run just before the Akron Marathon, and with the heat and the sidewalks and the concrete and the chafing. . .it was brutal.
This is the Blue Line.
This time I decided to run 20 miles on my own terms.
Normally I should have run the 20 miles last week, BUT I DO THINGS ON MY OWN TERMS; didn't you just read that? Instead I ran the Pro Football Hall of Fame Half Marathon, and yes, I know you are waiting for Part Deux of the race recap, but that isn't happening this week, ok?
A few months ago when I was running with Jen and Renee, they both volunteered to help me with the 20 miler, and they suggested I invite the Burning River Goddesses. I did, and they generously stepped up. I did a bowtie of five miles in each direction from Lock 29, and I had a crowd to help me along in the beginning.
I'm a Goddess! I'm the Goddess of NO CHILL!
Marta, who has run OVER 30 MARATHONS and is running the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, stayed with me for the full 20 miles.
We saw deer.
We saw turtles.
We saw herons.
The weather was beautiful, sunny with a chilly wind. Marta and I ran when we wanted to and walked when we needed to, and it was a great time overall.
Marta and I took a pic at the Beaver Marsh (14.44 miles in)
One thing I like about running with the Goddesses is that they are incredibly chill. We all know that I have NO CHILL WHATSOEVER, so it is important to me that I have someone to calm me down.
For the first time in a long time, I woke up this morning excited for a long run.
When we finished, I hugged Marta repeatedly and thanked her and told her how much it meant to me to have someone so experienced running with me. Then she gave me candy. WHAT????
You want this awesome Goddess with you when you run 20 miles.
So, now I am trying to relax with a recovery drink while my intuitive husband takes the kids to the mall and then to dinner so that we can have a nice dinner of steak and wine together.
Today was a good day. If the weather holds out, I feel I will be ready to tackle the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. Will you join me? Click here to register! Don't want to run?Try the link to volunteer; it's so fun to be in the midst of the action without having to hurt yourself.
I feel good, Peeps. I feel like I want to run. I want to run with you. Will you run with me? I'm waiting to hear from you.
Until then, run happy, Peeps!
Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!
The thing about me is EVERYTHING is about me, right? So, Part I of my race recap will be what I learned about myself today.
It's ALL about ME. Always.
First, my finish time for the half marathon was 2:14:29. This isn't fabulous, but it isn't totally disgraceful either. A part of me had hoped that I would PR this race, even run it in fewer than two hours, but I knew from the first step that this wouldn't happen. Why?
1. It was SUPER-HOT today, and it was very muggy, too. I knew that I should readjust my pace when I started sweating profusely in the first two miles. Scary moment: at mile 11 I passed a woman who had collapsed and stopped breathing. Someone was administering CPR. It was awful.
2. I had stomach cramps starting at mile 5. This was because I didn't have adequate bathroom time before the race. You know what I mean. Anyway, I spent a good 3-4 minutes in the portapotty at mile 7.
Guess I shouldn't have eaten this the night before the race.
3. I am 47 years old. This is a fact. I have not been in super-great shape my whole life; in fact, I started running after I turned 40. I may have hit my PR in the half when I did Akron in 2:00:52.
This is EXACTLY what 47 looks like.
4. I am carrying at least 10 pounds that I shouldn't be carrying, and that isn't even going by race weight. In that scenario, I am carrying at least 15 extra pounds. I feel those 10 pounds every day, so I know they affect my pace. I hope to lose them while training for the Akron Marathon, but we will see.
This is EXACTLY how I look when I need to lose 10-15 pounds.
5. I am currently experiencing a lot of anxiety and stress, and today I started the race completely stressed out. This definitely affects my performance.
This is EXACTLY how I look when I'm stressed out.
6. I'm just not hungry to race anymore. I don't know if it's marathon training or trail running or age or what, but I don't care to run balls-to-the-wall anymore.
I did learn something positive about myself today. As you may have read, I have been worried about having heart palpitationsat unexpected moments of running, twice during races. This has made me reluctant to race; that is why the Pro Football Hall of Fame is my first race of the year. Today I strapped on my heart rate monitor because I wanted to have data in case I experienced any problems.
There were a few times that I felt like I was going to have heart palpitations, so I checked my heart rate during those times. . . and I was completely normal. When that happened, I felt reassured that I wasn't going to have to walk and wheeze for the rest of the race. I told myself that it was in my head, and the feeling passed. Does this mean that it's all in my head? Maybe. I suspect that it is, especially since I've had an electrocardiogram and a blood test with perfectly normal results, but I'm still going to see a cardiologist to make sure. Anyway, it made me feel so much more secure in pushing myself a little bit. . .not that my finish time reflects that.
Also, this is my first race afterthe implantation of my urethral sling. I can't tell you how my life has changed for the better because of this surgery. Let's leave it with this: no screaming in the shower because of chafing caused by incontinence pads. You know what I mean.
Anyway, I haven't touched on the actual race, so I will save that for a another post. For now, I'm prepared to accept my results and think about how to improve them for future races, specifically for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, which will be my A-race this year. Wanna join me? Click here to register or volunteer.
Will the Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon be one of those future races? Check back soon to find out. Until then, run happy, Peeps!
Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!
This post is late, by my standards, and YOU DON'T CARE AND NEITHER DO I.
I ran 16.2 miles last Sunday. 13.1 of those miles were with Kristin, who is amazing and I love her. The Medina Half Marathon course was the focus for most of our morning.
Kristin and I are front row, second and third from left.
I should have kept going after 16, but I just felt. . .done. So, I stopped.
This is EXACTLY how I look after I run 16.2 miles.
I wanted to remind you about the title of this Blog: Run away from Trouble. I try very hard to keep this blog upbeat and positive, even when circumstances seem glum (see when I broke my foot!), but you need to know that there is a reason that I started to run: I have a lot of crazy to burn off, and I need to run away from my troubles.
Today, after lots of thinly-veiled hints from my daughter that I suck as a mom, and after a long phone call from school about my son (not my first, I might add, and unfortunately probably not my last), I decided I needed to run away. I strapped on my phone, turned on the music, braided my hair, and took off.
Screw this. Screw everyone. I just want to run away.
It was 81 degrees during my run, and I chose a route with hills, lots of hills. At one point I wanted to cry, but I reminded myself that I was running AWAY from all of that. . .so I tried to live in the moment.
Breathe in for three. . . Breathe out for two. I am strong. Runner. I got this. Runner. Relax-er. Runner.
I ran for five miles, and when I came back, I felt better. My troubles were still there, but I was better equipped to deal with them. I talked through the school day with my son, and I helped him plan a better day for tomorrow. I warned my daughter that until the end of the school year I am psychologically unstable, so she needs to think twice before poking the bear in any way. I showered, went grocery shopping, put the kids to bed, and finally ate some dinner.
Look, I have a lot of crazy in my head. Running is one of the best ways for me to cope. Sometimes running (especially racing) can be equally as stressful for me, but quitting isn't an option. Today I told myself that if quitting the run wasn't an option, quitting my family can't be an option either. We all have miles to go before we sleep; we need to figure out how to best get through those miles. If we are lucky, we can enjoy them.
How do you view running, Peeps? I hope you can Run Happy this week!
Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!
Today I had my 19 miler--a mileage I have not run since training for the Akron Marathon. It went surprisingly well. Here are some pictures and some lessons I learned:
1. (Re)Learn to run by yourself. This one is odd for me. When I first started running, I primarily ran alone. I loved running long, slow distances (as well as shorter runs) and races all by myself. Just me and my music. What can I say? I'm a rebel, Dottie, a loner.
In the past two years, I have switched my focus to running long with groups or partners. In a way it was really good for me to be sociable. As I get older, I have less patience with others, and I often find it tiring to talk to other people when I don't have to do it. Such is the life of a teacher.
Anyway, I grew to love running long with others, but unfortunately, I also grew to depend on it. When I decided to train long with groups, I forgot the fundamental rule: People will not always come through when you need them to. (It's the same rule with running with music, by the way.) As long as you depend on people, you are always opening yourself up for a letdown. Now, this isn't a condemnation of anyone in particular; it's just a fact. For example, you might set up a long run at 8:30 AM with another runner, and she/he might wake up sick. It happens to all of us, and it is nobody's fault. That, however, will not help you when you realize that you didn't take your earbuds with you because you depended on conversation as your distraction.
I've had a few situations in the past month where my runs were partly alone. Mostly I have awesome friends who have "rescued" me by running a few miles here and there during the long runs, but I now realize that I have to stop depending on running with other people.
Today I ran the first ten miles of my long run alone, and it wasn't terrible, but it would have been so much better if I hadn't gotten out of the habit of running long alone.
Technically, I wasn't completely alone. Snappy here was on the Towpath cheering for me. Or hoping to chew off my leg.
2. Don't sit in an Epsom Salt bath immediately after your long run if you have ANY SUSPICIONS AT ALL that you might have chafing anywhere in your nether regions. 'Nuff said.
Joy ran with me for the second part of my run: 9 miles. It has been a while since we were able to talk, and I really missed her, so we had a good time. We dodged a lot of snakes.
There were LOTS of these.
The weather was really hot, and by the end of the run, I looked like a salt lick. Joy was my savior, and I'm so grateful to her for saving my butt and getting me to finish 19 miles.
We finished at Lock 29.
I kind of screwed up my mileage plan for the marathon. Normally I should hit my 20 miler on April 30, three weeks before the race; however, I couldn't pass up a fabulous deal to run the Pro Football Hall of Fame Half Marathon on that day (for only $26.20!), so I had to decide whether I want to hit 20 miles before or after that. I've chosen the Sunday following the race, which will give me 2 weeks to taper. This is actually more than I normally schedule to taper, so I'm hoping this will all work out for me.
How is your training going, Peeps?
Do you prefer running solo or group running?
How long do you take to taper? Do you REALLY respect the taper?
I hope to see you in Cleveland. Until then, run happy, Peeps!
Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter @itibrout!s
I've focused a bit on hills lately, which is totally good for me in every way. . .
This is EXACTLY how I look when I run hills. See that look of joy? See the little kids in lederhosen?
But for my dial-back run this week, I wanted something flat and easy. And pretty. And so I chose the Towpath. I did five miles myself for the first hour, and because I didn't bring my earbuds, I did it without music!
Views of the Cuyahoga River from the Towpath
I love running in Merriman Valley; it's so beautiful, and the Towpath never looks the same from day to day.
After my first five miles, I met up with Kristin for the next ten. We agreed that the purpose was to relax and chat. We certainly chatted. It was a surprise to both of us when the turnaround seemed to come so quickly, and it was definitely a surprise to Kristin (who has never run that section of the Towpath before) when I told her that we were in the home stretch.
Of course we had to take a picture:
Shiny, happy people
As a bonus I saw some fellow Turtle alumni who were coming in as I was going out. Ladies, you were looking strong today!
The sun was shining, the weather was perfect, the company was fabulous. All in all, I give this run an A+. Thank you, Kristin, for being so awesome; you made 15 miles feel like 2.
I am almost at the 20 mile point for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, Peeps. Won't you join me by registering here? Until then, run happy, Peeps!
Like what you read? Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @itibrout!Tow
I had 18 miles to cover on Sunday, and it looked like I was going to run them alone until. . . Rachel came along. Rachel is another Cleveland Marathon Ambassador; you can check her out here.
What a happy coincidence that Rachel had to run 18 miles, too. . . except she wanted to start at 7:00 AM. In Chagrin Falls, which is 40 minutes away from my house.
This is EXACTLY how I feel when I realize I need to get up before 5 AM to be ready for a long run on my day off.
At first I said no, but after watching Moana with my kids, I decided to call it an early night, and I told Rachel I'd meet her in the wee hours of the morning.
We did two loops of 9 miles. I liked the idea of doing these loops because it wasn't the same loop, and I got to stop by my car to eat a banana and consider a wardrobe change (which I didn't need after all). The hard part (besides getting up so early) was that both loops were ALL HILLS. SO. MANY. HILLS.
This is EXACTLY how the hills looked. Maybe.
It was so pretty running through Hunting Valley, and we decided to take some pictures of the river.
My morning view
It's difficult to find a good running partner without too much adjustment. There is so much to think about: pace, personality, stamina, training needs. I was really lucky because Rachel and I seemed to mesh pretty well, and we stayed strong for the full 18 miles of freaking hills. I'm really glad I gave the 7 AM call a chance.
We look pretty good for being about 6 miles from the finish.
Because I was on Spring Break, I put in some good miles this week. I actually got a nine-miler in midweek by running part of the Blue Line in reverse. It was a great way to shake up the routine. I ran 40 miles, and I'm still alive and thriving. Not bad at all. Maybe I'll be ok in this marathon after all.
