Marathon Woman: My Six Month Journey Comes to an End

I'm sitting here on the floor of my hotel room.  Partially because the computer battery needs to be charged and I just didn't have the energy to unplug it from the wall to another outlet, but also because I just can't move!



My Running Gear

 The marathon was very challenging, but fun.  Having been my second one, but 7 years since I ran the last one, I was pretty confident that I would finish and I didn't have the same race jitters that I had the first time around.  But I was still worried that maybe I would get injured, or my asthma would be out of control, but everything went well...for the most part.

Lynnette, her husband John, and I (my John was up in Folsom doing a show with Taikoproject) left our hotel room around 5:15 a.m.  The race officially began at 6:15.  We're staying in Mission Bay, and the start line was down in Balboa Park.  Goodness, there was MAD traffic getting down there.  But luckily we exited further south than a lot of people seem to be exiting (Thanks John for checking the routes!), so that saved us a lot of time.  We still hit major traffic, so Lynnette and I jumped out of the car at Laurel and Kettner and wound up walking up a very hilly 7 blocks to the starting line.  Oh well, warm up.

Okay - this part may be TMI, but if you are planning on running a marathon one day, or if you have run one before, you KNOW how important it is to do #2 before hand.  Otherwise, the run just isn't going to be pleasant.  At all.  We got in line for the Port-o-Potties with about 30 minutes to the start time for our corral.  Plenty of time, right?  Apparently not.  I timed our wait and we were in line for 40 minutes.  And they ran out of toilet paper.  So Lynnette and I discussed using the old clothing we brought to keep us warm- her pullover long sleeve and my old paint-stained UCI jogging pants.  We were going to get rid of them anyway, so why not?  But some people got very clever and there just happened to be one of those surgical gowns (and I really hope it was just someone's costume)  lying on the ground, and we all started tearing pieces off to take care of business.  Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. And note to self:  next time, bring some toilet paper just in case.

Since the restroom line was so long, we missed our corral and just jumped into one of the ones that was about to leave.  It was about 7:10 or so at that time, and only half the corrals had left.  They had a couple of emcees announcing the start and some pretty pumping music, so when took off and it was a really moving experience.  We started off with our 9-minute run/1-minute walk interval, and were doing great.  We ran through Balboa Park, the Gas Lamp district, and Petco Park.  Our time was pretty steady, a little under 10:30.

Until we got to the 5 Freeway.  My brother's friend Derek warned me about it, and he was not kidding.  It was so slanted that at times it felt like one leg was about 6 inches shorter than the other.  It was like that for a few miles, not to mention that it was also uphill for part of the way.  At that point too, my asthma started kicking in again.  I normally do my steroid inhaler and albuterol for a long run, and I knew better than to change my routine, especially the day of the race, but I felt pretty good when I woke up so I only did the albuterol.  But we brought Lynnette's inhaler in case, and it gave me my second wind.  Literally.

When we got to Mile 14, we hit a pretty major uphill battle.  Not as steep as the one we trained on in Griffith Park, but it went for a three-mile grade and turned around at the top, so we saw all the runners who were ahead of us coming back down on the other side of the road.  That really got to me mentally, and around Mile 16 I asked Lynnette if we could take a little longer on our walking break because I was kind of losing it.  It turned out that the little stint along the 5 also did a real number on Lynnette's left knee, and she was in major pain, so the break helped both of us.

When we got to around Mile 19, everything from there on out was next to Mission Bay.  It was really beautiful and on a winding bike trail with a very welcomed breeze.  I think on a normal day, I would really enjoy being out there because it is so scenic.  But after having just run 19 miles, this part of the course was excruciating because it was all concrete.  I tried running on the grass next to it, but by that time, my form wasn't as great and I knew that I could easily just trip and fall because I wasn't picking up my feet as much as I could.

By that time, I think Lynnette and I were having a hard time.  Her with her knee and me with just being mentally and physically exhausted.  We switched down to a 4/1 interval, which was really helpful, but around Mile 23 I had another mental breakdown so we walked most of that mile and picked up again at Mile 24.  At that point, we just wanted to finish.

I really thought that I was going to have to walk through the finish line, but somehow, I was able to muster up some energy and came in at a nice stride at 5:31: 25.  So I'm very happy that I beat my last time by about 15 minutes.  The funny thing is, the last 3 miles I kept thinking, "What the f- possessed me to do this again?"  and "I will never f-ing do this again!"  (I was swearing a lot in my head by Mile 20), but I have to admit, once I crossed the finish line, I thought, "I could do this again."  I just loved the challenge, the discipline, and the comraderie of running.

But, and I'm going to do a lot of prefacing and I know I'm going to offend some purple shirt runners out there.  Sorry.  I know that a particular training program was a major sponsor of this marathon and that it is a very worthy cause as well, but it got really, really, REALLY annoying to hear "Go Team!" over and over again.  And yes, part of it is because I also hear it all the time when I train in Griffith Park, and I find it to be a little cultish, but to hear it at every mile, and every 10 seconds, and to not have any words of encouragement from these particular people thrown my way made me feel like I wasn't even part of the race.  And I'm not saying that people have to cheer for me as I run by, and admittedly there were a couple of coaches from that organization that would say encouraging words to me and Lynnette, I think.  I'm assuming we were the "blue team."   But it really did feel like dozens and dozens of purple shirt supporters  would just completely ignore anyone not dressed in their team uniform and only call out their "team members" names.  Not only that, but the coaches would run up and down the course, trying to talk to their participants (who it did seem like a couple of them were slightly annoyed too, especially at the later mileage when all we wanted to do, non-purple shirts included, was to finish the f-in' race) and give them words of encouragement or ask them where they were from and if it was their first marathon, etc., etc.  and would get in our frickin' way.  At one point I just wanted to shove one of the coaches in the face.  And, as my dear soul sister Lynnette pointed out, isn't running, at least marathon running, an individual sport? I'm just saying.  We were all out there on the course today and I think we all deserved some love and support, so spread the love, Team in Training!  Yes, I called you out.

But off my soap box and on to more positive notes.  I saw some amazing people doing the race who were really inspiring.  One in particular was a blind woman who was doing the full marathon.  I'm very happy I'm running again, and I'm very grateful for all the love and support I have received from the spectators (especially John Rappaport - it was great to see your face a couple of times on the course cheering us on! and some folk from the Start! Training program that drove all the way down here to show some love) and to all of you who generously donated and helped me raise $1,200.

And of course, to Arlene and Russel Lowe - not only are you some of the kindest, warmest people I know, you truly are an inspiration in so many ways.  Keep on keeping on!

Here's a link to when we crossed the 5k mark:  We're on the right hand side:
http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event_video.asp?ID=117412832&EVENTID=75623&PWD=&BIB=32347&FROM=photos&PHOTOGRP=11507773

And here's us crossing the finish line:

http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event_video.asp?EVENTID=75623&BIB=32347&VLOC=Full+Finish



I do it for the free pita chips.



We did it!


Til the next race,

Rona

Waiting to Exhale

...and inhale... and to just breathe, damnit!  As we are tapering down our mileage for the marathon, I was supposed to run 16 miles today.  I got up dutifully at 6:30 to meet my training group at 7 a.m. in Griffith Park as usual.

I left in a hurry out of fear that my cats would run out of the house (Coco somehow got out yesterday, and the one good thing about my not calling the gardener to trim the crazy oats in our front yard was that it prevented her from quickly running away from me) with my fuel belt, cell phone, wallet, hat and a pair of flip-flops in hand only to realize that once I shut the door, I didn't have my car keys.  So, after a few failed attempts of calling John, I finally went into the backyard and knocked on our bedroom window to wake him up to get my keys.

But I digress.  I finally got to Griffith Park around 7:15 and listened to the experiences of those who ran the Pasadena Marathon last week. Kudos!  Our coaches, Jeanne and Bert, gave us our route for the day - down to the Ranger Station, Hill Loop in reverse, back down to Travel Town, and then on to Mineral Wells.  Lynnette and I did our usual 5 minute walk warm-up, but as we started to run, I could feel the tightness in my chest - yup, an asthma attack.  Since it's been kinda cold the last few days, I've been trying to take preventative measures with my regular inhaler, inhaler steroids, and allergy medicine, but it still wasn't enough for today.  And it's such a strange feeling to know that my legs, arms, feet and everything else could run for 16 miles relatively easily, but my lungs were just not having it today. 

So instead of our usual 9/1, it was more like - 7/2, then fire hydrant to fire hydrant during the hill loop, 9/1 on the decline, then 7/2 until I started hacking, then 5/3, then walking because I seriously thought my lungs were going to leap out of my chest.  We wound up only doing 7.6 miles today, but I thought better safe than sorry, especially with the marathon only 2 weeks away.

Thanks for reading and thank you also to Sharon Omi and Ken Narasaki for their generous donation.  I'm so happy that you all helped me to reach my goal of $1000, but if you would like to donate more, feel free to - as a token of appreciation, the American Heart Association gives us a windbreaker if we raise $2,000 by June 30, and I wouldn't mind getting one!  ; - )

xoxo
Rona

22 Miles Done and 3 Weeks to Go!

As I sit here with lactic acid coursing through almost every part of my body, it finally hit me that the marathon is coming up and soon.  Lynnette and I did 22 miles yesterday and it was a really great training session.  We've been running 9/1 intervals the past few weeks, and after weeks of mental resistance, it finally feels like a nice, easy pace.  We were very disciplined yesterday about keeping to one-minute walks with an occassional 2 for our goo breaks.  We were also very good about our water stops and just getting what we needed and moving on.  The hills were really tough for me, and in our final 2 miles with a slight incline, I had to yell out that it was all mental in order to keep me going, and I did. 

Next week we're doing 16, then 10 for the following week, and then the big day!

Thank you all for your support and donations.  If you would still like to make a donation, please visit:

http://LAStartTraining.kintera.org/ronalee_miyasaki
p.s.  Kudos to everyone who did the Pasadena Marathon today!  You rock!

I didn't kill the skunks but I sure ran by 'em...

Actually, that was two weeks ago that I ran by them and saw them.  Both times Lynnette said, "Oh dear," and both times I casually glanced over to see the poor little things and I almost tripped over from shock.

But luckily today, on my 18 mile run, I didn't see them.  But I sure did smell them.  At least the one near the LA Zoo. 

It was a tough run today, especially since I skipped last week's 16 miler.  So I went from 10 miles two weeks ago to 18.  And it was rough.  At first, the timer on my watch stopped.  I usually start with a 10 minute walk as a warm-up and I kept thinking that it was the longest 10 minutes of my life because my watch said 4:46 everytime I glanced down.  When I finally realized that it wasn't working, it was a good 15 minutes and that threw me off.  Oh well.  So I started on my interval of 6/1 until I got to what we refer to as "the hill loop," and you can imagine what that entails in Griffith Park.  That sucker sucks.  So I walked the incline, and met up with one of the other START! Training participants, Megan, and we began chatting and that was the beginning of the end for me.  I basically walked the next hour or so, but hey, I made a new friend and it was quite lovely to chat with her.  Since she was running the 1/2 Marathon, she only had to run 10 miles, so we parted at the Gene Autry and I had to run the hill loop again, but this time in reverse.  So if you know Griffith Park, it is basically running from Travel Town up the hill, past the Compost Center, down to Mineral Wells and the golf course. Personally I think that way is worse because the incline is really gradual.  Lynnette and I (unfortunately she couldn't make it today) usually alternate running and walking from fire hydrant to fire hydrant because of the slope, but since she wasn't there today, yes, I cheated.  But quite frankly, today was pretty darn hot so I thought I could afford a little break.  But I did run all the way down once I got past the Compost Center.  So there.

When I got to about mile 15, I was done.  It was so hot and at that point, my interval training was shot.  I basically started to use distance markers instead of my usual 6/1 because I couldn't think by that time.  But it did feel really good when I did run because my body just went on autopilot and I didn't mind it.  And a huge help was when one of the volunteers at our water stops gave me a couple of pieces of ice that I just ran with until they melted.  They were such a godsend.  It really is the little things in life.

Next week:  A nice little break.  We're only doing 8, but in Santa Monica with the other START! Training groups, so it should be fun!

A HUGE thank you to everyone for their donations!  I reached my goal of $1000 this week.  Many thank yous to Robert Lund and Lea and Bong Go for their donations this past week  But please, if you still would like to donate, feel free to -  I would certainly appreciate it and so would the American Heart Association!

Much love,
Rona

A Setback

So I was feeling real good last week after having done 10 miles again last Saturday.  On Monday, Lynnette and I upped our intervals to 6min run/1 min walk.  It felt really long, but nice that we were running for longer periods of time. Just a little annoying because I was sneezing a lot from what I thought were allergies. We did the same on Tuesday, and after the run, I thought I was just achy from pushing myself a little harder, only to realize Wednesday night that the aches and pains and all the sniffling was accompanied by a fever.  Yup, I was hit with what I think is the flu.  Couldn't get out of bed for the next 3 days.  So I skipped yesterday's 16 miler BUT I did manage to get to Mike Hagiwara's Yoga class in Little Tokyo instead.  I figured all of the stretching and energy work would help get rid of the aches and the leftover sickness, and I feel so much better today.  I'm gonna hit Cardio Barre tomorrow morning, and hopefully back to running again on Tuesday.

And as always, thanks so much for your support and the generous donations, especially from Pam & Michael Hayashida,  Francesca Estrada, and Steffinnie Phrommany!  Only $150 away from reaching my goal of $1000!

Love and happiness,
Rona

Another 10

Happy Saturday!  It's been awhile since I've blogged, but I'm still here and running and currently soaking my feet in epsom salts as I type.  We've pulled back a little in our mileage so that we are not overtraining, so last week I did 6 miles and this morning I did another 10.  The great thing is that after my 14 miler a few weeks ago, 10 was not as daunting and I looked forward to it.  I am doing 4/1 intervals now and running 13-minute miles.  Next week I plan on doing 6/1 and then finally back to my old interval of 9/1.

I also noticed that before it took me the first 10 minutes or so to get focused and into my run, but for some reason, this time around it takes me a good hour before I feel like I'm in the zone and I'm not making excuses in my head about why I should stop running and go home and crawl back into bed.  But once I'm in the zone, it feels so exhilarating and free to just run and not think.

As for fundraising, I'm about 2/3rds of the way there, so I need about $300 to raise.  Thank you all so much for your support, especially to Desiree and Lou Ocampo, Lee Takasugi, and Debbie Cheng for your recent donations.  Also, I know that times are tough and there are so many causes out there to support, especially with the recent devastation in Japan - but if you have even $5 or $10 to spare, that would be very much appreciated and will help me hit my goal of $1,000.

Love and healthy thoughts,
Rona

Halfway There!

Today I did 14 miles.  This is the farthest I have run in 7 years.  And just like Lord Voldemort (Yes, I'm a Harry Potter geek), I'm back.  I finally feel connected to running again - mentally, spiritually, and physically.  Granted, it wasn't the best running time I've done (3 hours, 25 mins.  - Yikes!) since I'm still only doing a 3 minute run/2 walk interval, but hey, I got through it.  And I didn't mind. 

We started off with our coach Bert giving us a lesson in interval training to increase our speed.  We did 3 laps of running as fast as we could to a fixed point, and then jogging back at a moderate pace to the starting line.  I have to admit, I didn't care so much for that part because I thought I was going to hurl a lung after the third lap.  But, he did give us an excellent tip that helped me throughout today's run - he said that if we wanted to increase our speed, to use our arms and kick them on the backswing to help propel us forward.  So I have to say, that really helped me a lot, especially on the hill we did and towards the end of my run when I had nothing left.  Whenever I started to feel tired, I just thought about using my arms more and it really pushed me forward with not as much effort with my legs. 

So note to self:  Yes, you do need at least 3 flasks of liquid for your fuel belt (I just brought 2 because I was lazy and thought I'd refill when need be which was really inconvenient)  and yes, I should have brought another goo (I brought 2)  because quite frankly, I'm not running as fast as I used to (yet!) and this was a long frickin' run. 

And I'm happy to say, that I am looking forward to my next long run.  I am looking forward to having time for me and only me, to checking in with my girls as we train together (ahem, Lynnette and Sarah - that's right, I called you out.  ;),  and to forgetting the physical labor of it all and just enjoying being out there and taking it all in. 

And as always, thank  you all so  much for reading my blog, and for your generous donations, especially to Jason Fong for his donation this week.  Love you all and 'til next time!