Did that really happen????

Well, we made it through, it's over, and I have to admit that I had a great time! The whole party in Baltimore atmosphere made me forget that I don't like running very much! I can now see why people get addicted to these events. There is always something you can do a little better, a little faster, and the people are great. The day started with the overachieving marathoners waking me up by all the hooplah for their start just outside the hotel room window. This picture doesn't do justice to the number of people who were there for the start. I watched them take off as I ate my breakfast, mostly thinking that this can't really be happening. Karen, Perry, Susan, Raf and I started out from the hotel together. One of the biggest challenges of the day was finding our way to the start line for the half-marathon and getting through the port-a-potty line. After separating to take care of our business, somehow in that mob, I turned around a few minutes before the start and there was Susan! If you look in the picture, you can see her in pink in the crowd over my left shoulder! It was a great feeling to have support on the sidelines and right there in the mob with me. Susan and I have never run together so I really enjoyed that first mile we ran together.

I thought along the way that there were so many things along the route that I would have like to take pictures of, but I knew I'd need to keep my focus on moving my feet if I was going to do this, so my Blackberry was left in the hands of Raf and I fought through the withdrawal. I'm so glad Susan took some pictures. Baltimore is an interesting place full of all kinds of people. Here are my highlights:

- I didn't even use my iPod for the first three miles. I chatted with Susan, people watched, and just took it all in for a bit. As you know, I usually hate the first two miles, but this time it was great!

- The path led us around Lake Montebella which was a great scene. The entire lake was surrounded with runners. It was a bit of peace and calm in the middle of the city that I don't remember ever seeing before.

- My time for the first half was WAY better than I ever expected. Less than 12 minute miles!

- Right around mile 7 I had to have a talk with my right knee. It started complaining and I was not happy. I said, "Look knee, we are going 13.1 miles like it or not. If you cooperate we can be done in around 3 hours. If not, this could take all day." After a little adjustment of the knee strap, we were off. Those knee straps continue to be miracles in my eyes!

- Somewhere along the way there was a band playing "I Want You to Want Me". I like that song, so while I wanted to stop and listen, I figured it made more sense to pick up the pace a bit and bop along while I could still hear it.

- The people who came out of their houses to watch and cheer (and on one block heckle) were a great distraction and made the time go by fast. I barely remember looking at my GPS watch through miles 6-10 because there was so much going on along the street. Baltimore has beautiful buildings and great scenery, even in the tougher parts of town. Of course, the high 5s from little kids along the street was the best! The block with African women out dancing in the street made me laugh out loud. They were having a blast. Check out Susan's pics for the Eye of the Tiger guy. He cracked me up. That's one of those songs on my iPod that motivates me. For some reason, I found the man in a tiger suit dancing on top of his car way more amusing than motivating.

- I spent a little time running behind a guy dressed in a Miller Lite beer can costume. I thought of Susan during that time. I knew she would chase the beer man. Around the same time, an older man in a powder blue tux ran past me.

- While I greatly appreciate the support and kindness of the guy passing out 400 pounds of gummy bears, it didn't take me long to realize the hazards of squished gummy bears on the road while it's raining.

- Around the 10 mile mark, my body realized that I've never actually run more than 8 miles at one time before and decided to start cramping up in every moving part. Nothing painful, just really stiff and making me much more aware of every step.

- A lot of you were there via the iPod music that made me think of people, times, memories, stories that kept me going. A little Hinder, a little 80's hair band, all good.

- There are a lot of hills in Baltimore. I never noticed that before. I sure noticed them this time! The good news is you can run faster downhill as long as you avoid the squishy, wet gummy bears.

- I walked more than ran the last two miles. I wanted to make sure I could run across the finish line. My legs were getting harder and harder to move. My feet were starting to hurt more than I expected....... It was all about just getting it done somehow at that point.

- Seeing my cheerleader on the side of the road about a quarter mile from the finish made me smile and made my feet keep moving. Thanks Raf!

- I wanted to walk SOOOOO bad at the end. My legs were like dragging tree trunks, but there were so many people along the sides cheering and jumping around that I felt too guilty to walk!

- The finish line was heaven! I was surprised by my time because I really slowed down the last couple miles.

I'm very proud of the change in me - in my head, in my body, in my determination since this process started. I was SO out of shape a few months ago. While I still have a long way to go to be a real fit person, I'm getting there. Parts of me are sore today, but not nearly as much as I would have expected. It was a great day spent with family and friends. Anything that brings us together is worth some effort. There will be another half-marathon in the future......stay tuned!!

Two months and 23 days ago...

...I stumbled, almost dead last, across the finish line of the Rockville Twilight 8K and for no particular reason immediately thought, "Hey! Why not run the Baltimore Half-Marathon?" Today, Kelly and I did! This Blog has told you the story in sweat, blood ,and pictures of how we trained--or sometimes, just didn't train. But despite the dropping temps, the wind and the rain squalls, we pulled our aching feet across the finish line of the Baltimore Half-Marathon today, Kelly, in 2:59 and me 3:31. Maybe no records were broken but like the song says (from Rascal Flatts, "Stand"):

Every time you get up and get back in the race,
One more small piece of you starts to fall into place.
Cause when push comes to shove you taste what you're made of.
You might bend, till you break cause its all you can take;
On your knees you look up, decide you've had enough!
You get mad, you get strong;
Wipe your hands shake it off:
Then you stand, Then you stand.

Personally, I was a bit disappointed in my time (16 minute/mile), until I reconsidered that (a) the entire course is ONE BIG HILL, and it goes UP, and (b) I spent an inordinate amount of time texting, Facebooking, and taking picture with my Iphone. Even in the friendly, party-atmosphere of the Baltimore Running Festival, going ANYWHERE on foot for 3 1/2 hours is excruciatingly BORING for me, the poster child for Adult ADD.

Here are my real-time FaceBook updates...


So, first and foremost, an appreciation to son Jack & FaceBook friends Marianne, Kim, Rosemary, Laurann, Ellen, & Julie for motivating me with texts & FB comments DURING the race! And an enthusiastic "Thank you, Jesus!" to my husband, Jesus, for meeting me at the finish line with a warm sweat shirt & an even warmer hug & a kiss.

Photo highlights along the way included the official start of the Marathon - daughter Becky is down there somewhere. This was her second year in a row, and she finished in 3:42...in other words, she did 26 miles in the time it took me to do 13. Clearly she did not inherit her running prowess from her momma. However, my dad, Jack Zimmerman, was a high school cross-country running star, so it just skipped a generation!

Here's me waving optimistically moments before the start of the half-marathon....

Note: the wire under my shirt is my "hidden" Ipod earphones, not a pacemaker...

One of my favorite photo moments came about half way along the Half-Marathon route, with this cleverly understated advertising:


Once again friend-of-the-event Stuart Seigler manned his Now Famous Gummy Bear Station at 28th and Guilford, approximately Mile 23. With 400 pounds of Gummy Bears, up from 120 lbs. in 2005 and 320 lbs. last year, he promised to be there until the least-fastest runner passes. He was really cool guy, friendly, and a bit insane, just like Baltimore!



Not long after Gummy Bear Guy was Eye of the Tiger Dude who stands on top of a car in a tiger suit all day and plays Eye of the Tiger on a taped loop. I bet the neighbors hate him. Runners love him, tho! Between conversations and photo ops, it's a miracle I got to Mile 24 at all!


Speaking of Mile Markers, here's my photo collection:






Sadly, it also came across the news reports not long ago that a 23 year old young man collapsed and died early in the Marathon at Mile 23. His core temperature was 108 degrees. It's a sobering reminder, as this Blog comes to a close, that you can never count on more than the present moment to enjoy life and live it for all it's got to offer. Maybe running for 3 1/2 hours does not seem like the most enjoyable way to spend a Saturday, but every single experience that keeps you appreciating the here and now is one to be sought after and treasured. And in the end, it's all about knowing you have kept the faith and given it all you got.

And so it is fitting, that rather than closing the entry with yet another "Look how tired and silly I am at the end of the run!" photo, I close with this banner I saw on a church fence coming down the final mile 25. I remembered seeing it last year, and now I'm glad I stopped to snap the image.



To all the family and friends who put up with the Blog and the whining: thanks for helping me finish this course. Now, go out and follow your own!

See you at the Frederick Half-Marathon in May!!!!!!

Kelly Ran for the Ta-Tas

Today was my first organized running event - the Run for the Ta-Tas 5k benefitting the New Hanover County Breast Cancer Center. A lot of things hit me today at this event. The main things being:

1. I really should done a few more of these before I signed up for the "big one".

2. Running has its own culture that I am trying to figure out, but I think I like it other than the whole quest for pain part.

3. When your A.D.D. is out of control and you have lost your knee strap thingys AGAIN, headbands work pretty well and no one even notices.

4. I have SO much to be thankful for.

It was an emotional event which I didn't really stop to think about until I was there. As I walked past the "In Memory Of......." sign that people were signing, I had to stop and take a minute to be thankful that those I know who have fought breast cancer are still with us and going strong. I love you Aunt Gail and Mrs. Hermann (Deidre's mom)!!

As I walked around before the run started, my warped sense of humor started to come back and I started laughing at the idea of everyone with numbers pinned to their shirts. The organizers claim this is to keep track of times and who is running, etc. I think it's more for identifying the bodies along the road of those who overestimated their running abilities. We also all had the shoe tags, supposedly used for tracking your time. I think they use it to locate the women who inadvertantly made a right at the movie theatre and ran straight for my favorite corner in Mayfair - the one with Coldwater Creek, J Jill, Banana Republic, Talbots, Chicos....... I was distracted from my personal entertainment by a very nice couple who started up a conversation. He is the runner, she is a retired teacher who was there to cheer. He is a long time runner full of stories about his adventures. Nice people.

Let's get the obvious questions out of the way first. Yes, I finished still vertical. No, I did not take any shortcuts (though it was tempting). No, I was not the last one to cross the finish line. While I did not blaze any trails, I did finish somewhere around 35 minutes, which while on the slow end for the group, was actually the fastest I've ever moved my body 3+ miles without wheels. My comfortable pace where I can breathe and move my legs is around a 13 minute mile. There's just something about large numbers of people running past you that makes you move a little faster! The men started 3 minutes after the women (play on running after the tatas of course). As the first group blew by me, I decided they were truly overachievers who use dinky little 5ks to make them feel fast. :) After about the first 1/2 mile, I noticed two other women who were moving at about my pace so I decided to keep an eye on them and use that as a measure of my slacking. Turns out we stuck together the whole way, back and forth passing and catching up, not wanting to be the one left behind. As we ran, the one woman had friends running also who shouted encouragement back and forth and I thought that was a great thing. The retired teacher I met before the race was waving and yelling to me around the 2 mile mark which was very kind. Near the end, one of the friends who had already finished ran back to where we were and got her going for the last 1/2 mile. While I thought that was a very nice thing to do, I also wanted to kick him in the shin for making her run faster because I was supposed to be keeping up with her! As we neared the 3 mile mark, the third woman in our little pack grabbed me by the arm and said, "Come on, we got this, run!" It was then I decided that maybe I should look into joining a running club. I need to meet people and I surely need some help with the motivation in this sport. After I crossed the finished line, the nice man I met before the run was there and told me he had to make sure he saw me cross the line. Nice, nice people. I just saw a preview clip of the evening news on tv and they have video from the run. Felt good. Very, very good. This picture here in the car is about when I realized it's still sunny and warm in NC and sunscreen would be smart. I was also thinking of the hours of soccer games without a nap!

So now this leaves me worried about next Saturday. It's so much more psychological than physical for me. The first two miles are ugh, what am I doing. Then I kinda get in a groove and it's ok. I know it will be ridiculously hard and I will be in pain and I'm in WAY over my head. BUT, I also know that the crowd will help my feet move and that I am WAAAAYYY to stubborn to do anything but get through this. I'm sure it won't be pretty, especially with rain in the forecast, but by this time next week I will have finished 13 miles, taken lots of Advil, and started the after celebration with friends in downtown Baltimore. Please pray. As for now, no more running until the big one, another trip to Dick's for knee straps, and a reminder to pack sunscreen which I did NOT think of today. We get on the plane Thursday afternoon. Here we go!

Kelly's Final Countdown

Here we are! A little more than a week to go and my last long run finished today!!! Ran at the Jacksonville gym again today for 8 miles before I ran out of time. It just amazes me that it's not that hard any more. Sure it makes me really tired, my feet are sore, and I have absolutely no energy left in my body, but the process is not that bad. The knees seem to be fine now with the miracle straps from last week and my body seems to miss it when I don't run for a few days. Imagine that! The hardest part now is finding a way to get through the boredom after about 4 miles. Today I cranked up the music and did a lot of daydreaming. At the six mile mark I exchanged some text messages with Susan which is quite dangerous when you have coordination issues. That entertained me a bit. Then I started getting really hungry. That will teach me to skip lunch on a long run day. Of course, since it was my Tuesday run in Jacksonville, I had some nice folks to look at which also helps. Much to my disappointment, Red Shirt Guy and White Shirt Guy stood me up. OK, maybe I didn't even talk to them last week, just watched them, but they should have known anyway right?? Well, just when I was about to quit for the night at the 7.5 mile mark, I saw a flash of red out of the corner of my eye (pull up bar of course) and there was Red Shirt Guy. In a red shirt. Which of course distracted me for the last half mile as I tried to determine if he only owns red shirts........or if he read the blog.........

As for financing the sport, who would have thought it would be so expensive. I was, um, too tired to notice the speed limit change on my way home and I got to meet another nice police officer. Not even the short running shorts and tank top helped. Well, I guess I did smell kinda bad......

So here's the last week leading to the grand finale. Saturday is the "Run for the Ta-Tas" 5k for breast cancer in Wilmington. On Tuesday, I will run a couple miles for my stress management, but taking it easy. On Thursday afternoon, we get on a plane and head for Baltimore. Friday is a health expo at the Inner Harbor where we have to pick up our "stuff" (whatever that is I have no idea) and then Saturday is the big day! At this point, I know I can make it, I know I will finish, I know it won't be fast, and I'm just hoping I can walk onto the plane on Sunday to go home. Better than anything is that I get to spend some time with my sister Karen and my evil friend Susan who got me into this in the first place.

Greg, I have earned my chocolate. Now if I can just get someone to bring it to me.......

Twelve fewer miles to run...

Today, as God is my witness, was my last long run in preparation for the race. I ran the hills around my house in rural Maryland. Note the local folkloric signage!


A lovely day, and the run went well. Instead of waiting to chug Gatorade at the 6 mile mark, I started drinking it as I ran, and that worked very well. I even found I could anticipate a hill by drinking some before and it gave me enough energy to shuffle to the top like the little engine that could.

Today's half-way pitstop was the bathroom of the Little Bennet Regional Park Golf Course..as you can see, the surroundings were far superior to the usual PortaJohn...


Not much else to report. Those last miles are still so incredibly boring, and underarm chafing ("Ewwww. TMI!") continues to be an annoyance. Mostly, though, I'm happy with the race-day togs I took for a test run today... The cut of the shirt lets my tattoo show, and hopefully it will inspire me...and the one or two stragglers in the race who are behind me and get to see it...to persevere.

Next 10 days, some shorter (MUCH shorter) hill runs and fun at Zumba and BodyPump. And then the happy days of gentle pre-race carb-loading. Oh, the anticipation! See you in Charm City!

"It's a Miracle!" shouted Kelly.

Less than three weeks to go. Today I feel good about it. Tomorrow may be another story. I didn't run much last week and I can't even remember why. The days fly by and I lose track of what happened when. This week's "long run", on paper, was supposed to be 11 miles. Yeah right. Apparently the people who make the training calendar are not single moms with full time jobs, a 45 minute commute and 4 days a week of soccer! Oh yeah, I promised no whining this week. Like a true runner, I did stop at Omega Sports between soccer games and spent more money on cool running shorts, a shirt that wisks away the sweat, a fanny pack water bottle thingy, and some Glide to keep my chafing parts from chafing. I asked if they had bionic knees, the answer was no. Gotta find a new store! Then I bought YET ANOTHER iPod because I lost the one I just bought. Fabulous!

Now back to that 11 miles. How?? So, I figured I could save an hour if I ran at the gym rather than driving somewhere with trails. Running was the perfect plan for Sunday because I was FRUSTRATED with my laptop and the iPod and most everything that morning. I had something to burn off! The first 3 miles were great! I think I can actually say now that a 3 mile run is almost EASY!! Can't believe I'd ever say that! Then it went downhill fast. My phone was vibrating away and I decided to ignore it. After a few more calls, I figured I should check since I'd left my darling children home alone. (No worries, they are old enough.) Well, it was a crisis of grand proportion requiring 3 calls and a text in 5 minutes. NFL Sunday Ticket was not working and the Ravens game would be on in 3 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!! After a deep breath, and another mile to run off the frustration, therefore protecting the life of my oldest son, I gave up and went home. The 11 mile run turned into 4. It was a good 4, but 4.

This week I have class for work on my Greg days so no Greg. I promised him I'd go to the Jacksonville gym while I was away and he gave me a list of weight trainy things to do and advised me to find a muscly marine to help me. Um, well, I lost the paper. Don't tell Greg. BUT, I did go to the Jacksonville gym today. It's right down the road from my afternoon school so I was there, changed, and on the treadmill by 3. It was raining so no outside running considered. My goal today was to see how long I could run without taking a walking break. The other day, when talking to a much more experienced runner, she told me that if I can run 9 miles, I can make it 13 somehow someway. There's a plan. Problem is, I haven't really "run" more than 5 miles. My 8 milers were a lot of walking - remember the failing knees? Anyway, I was going to see how far I could go without walking with the idea of not settling for less than 3 miles straight and hoping for more, but being careful of the knees. I stopped at Dick's and spent MORE money on knee strap thingys that are supposed to keep my legs attached. Well, right about mile 3, a very attractive person of the male species (known from here on as Red Shirt Guy) walked by my treadmill, jumped up onto the pull up bar and knocked out 20 in a matter of seconds while looking like he was lifing a feather. He was weight training happy go lucky and I was enjoying watching him. :) So before I knew it I was at mile 4. And guess what??? NO KNEE PAIN!! NOTHING HURT!! The $30 in knee strap thingys was a true miracle!! Woohoo! So I thought maybe a little more. Then another person, White Shirt Guy (which soon became transulcent from sweat white shirt guy-nice), got on the treadmill next to me and I was suddenly motivated to run a while longer. Around mile 5 my iPod was playing Rocky music and White Shirt Guy mysteriously started air boxing while running. ??? Strange, but hit me as quite funny at the time. I had to suck up the laughter and focus on breathing. White Shirt Guy was NOT going to outrun me. Well, ok, yeah, he was in WAY better shape so I was hallucinating at that point. The air drumming that he started soon after made me have to stop and tie my shoe so I wouldn't fall off the treadmill laughing. Before I knew it, I was at mile 6. Well then, Red Shirt Guy was bench pressing right in front of me so what's one more mile.......and Walah - 7 miles and I felt fine. No pain, just hungry and out of time. The lesson of the day is...wear the miracle knee strap thingies and find the right distractions and you can run on an on! Some Advil and some icing and I can still walk like a normal person tonight. Nice.

So same time, same place Friday Red Shirt and White Shirt Guys, please??? Better yet, see you in Baltimore in a couple weeks?????? :-)

Susan has gone the distance...inadvertently.

My training schedule called for 11 miles today and 12 next Sunday, with a week's rest before the "big day." I gave myself the option of quitting at 11, or going to 12 if I felt good (haha). I did manage to make it to mile 12 with only one interval of walking. HOWEVER, then I realized that my walking 3/4 miles south on the canal path, backtracking from the car to get to mile marker 30 to start, and then having to walk (crawl) the 3/4 miles to get back to my car had put me over the 13.1 mile race day distance. Sadly, I was too numb to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.

All in all, except for the unrelenting feeling that my toes were broken, the cramps in my calves, the need to stop periodically to stretch out any and all muscles related to tight and screaming hip flexors, the puky feeling from gulping down 1.5 Gatorades at mile 6, and resisting the desire to rip the ear plugs from my ear and throw my Ipod into the stagnant canal, well, gee, it was just great. Jesus NTSOG was just lovely as well, and called me every 15 minutes or so the last hour to make sure I was still alive. At least, I think it was my husband, Jesus. I was so delusional at that point it might have been the real guy.

Here are today's photographic rendering of the run:
First, at White's Ferry at Mile 6, gulping down Gatorade and still optimistic about "only" 6 more miles to go...

Here we are, thinking that we had survived 12 miles, when in fact, it was 13.5. Please note the euphoria.


And finally, back in the car, hydrated and pretending that the protesting sciatic nerve in my right leg was not making me writhe in pain...



And, by the way, daughter Becky went for her long run of 24 miles today and came back without any feeling in her right leg... so I guess the pain and misery is normal. Oh , yay. Who invented this sport?