One more thing

I went back to the Y after work and squeezed in another 55 minutes on the elliptical, raising my day's HBBC exercise points to 8. My veggies for the day included these delicious delicata squash rings. They are oven roasted (like the delicata squash fries in my recipe list), although they look suspiciously like onion rings!
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Last day of November Thanks

I ended my series of thankfulness posts on Thanksgiving, because that seemed like an appropriate conclusion point. But in the spirit of Thanksgiving month, I decided to finish with one final day of thanks.

Today I am thankful for running, and my ability to run. Running has provided me with years of fun, fitness, and a whole new reason to travel to fun places. I am so lucky that despite my dicey ankle/achilles, I have never been injured enough to stop running, and despite my penchant for tripping and falling, I haven't been hurt much worse than bloody knees. (Okay, there was/is my deformed bicep injury, but it totally did not interfere with running, except to the extent it affects how I look in a sleeveless shirt.) While I never will be extraordinarily fast, I have been thrilled by running faster (at times) than I ever would have believed possible. And even though I am feeling slow these days, I still believe that there is the potential for improvement (and new PRs) in my future. I am thankful for my endurance. Who would have thought I could run continually for four hours (and more), and walk away feeling pretty good, and thinking about future marathons not two days later! (Thinking about them, not actually running them....)

Oh, and as alluded to in my earlier post, I am really, really thankful for compression socks! (I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before I start exploring full length compression tights...assuming they make them for thunder thighs!)
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I feel good

Two days out from the Seattle Marathon and I feel pretty good! Of course I have been wearing compression socks for the last four days (including Saturday, Sunday during the race, Monday and today) and today I am wearing running shoes at work (black Asics to look "professional," haha).

I am waiting on doing a full race report until the race pictures come out. (Though a smart person would start writing right away before she forgot everything....)

Bodywise, on Sunday (after the race) I was pretty sore all over and walking very stiffly (the traditional "marathon shuffle"). I didn't sleep well Sunday night because of the achiness, even though I was in a Westin Heavenly Bed. On Monday most of the general achiness was gone, so that I could feel the soreness in my ankle and achilles tendon. Oh, and my left big toenail...the one that just finished growing back from a delayed loss after the Newport Marathon (albeit in a slightly deformed fashion)...had a big blood blister under the nail (which undoubtedly lead to another loss). I drained the blister on Sunday so that took a lot of the pressure off, but the toe of my shoe pressing on it still made it hurt a little. (This doesn't happen with running shoes, hence my decision to wear them today, even though the nail is much less tender by now.)

Anyhow, on Monday I was almost fine. On Monday afternoon delayed muscle soreness began to set in my quads, and today they are still feeling it. It only affects things like going down stairs and raising my upper legs (when I want to cross my legs I have to give them a boost by lifting with my hands).

I had decided not to run any races in December as part of my running recovery program. That is still the plan, but...I am considering running a Jingle Bell Run on Saturday, just for fun. Haven't signed up yet...I am still debating.* (But you know I'm gonna do it, don't you, unless there is some non-running reason that I can't!) It's four miles, which would be a great distance to run.

I am definitely taking the rest of this week off running, though. I went to the Y this morning for the elliptical, and I am hoping to force myself to start going back to yoga on December 1. The only thing that has been holding me back from yoga is reluctance to spend the evening going to the Y...I have enjoyed my evenings at home. But HBBC calls, and I must expand my fitness options!

Speaking of HBBC...60+ minutes on the elliptical = 4 points. Plus fruit and veg = 1 point. I haven't had my full quota of veg yet but I know I will with dinner. (Also 1 point fruit and veg yesterday, no exercise yesterday.)


*And I am waiting to see if I win the Snickers Marathon Bar contest for a trip to Vegas this weekend, before I schedule anything else. Just in case.

HBBC 11/27-28

Saturday: 0 exercise, I'm afraid. But I did squeeze in 7 fruits and veg (with a little creativity) - Marionberry pie (a LOT of fruit in my piece); a great veggie melange pasta for lunch with lots of brussels sprouts, sweet potato, squash, and apple; real tomato soup with dinner; and arugula salad. TOTAL 1 point.

Sunday: 26.35 run + 1.15 walk (that's from the hotel to the race plus general walking around afterwards). 27.5 total. Fruit and veg 0 (two bananas and that's it--oh, there was a baked apple with dessert but nothing near seven).
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Post Marathon

That shirt says Finisher, by the way! I suppose the picture is sideways. I was able to rotate the view on my BlackBerry but I don't think it sticks for emailing.

So, 4:38:36. A little bit slower than my hoped for sub-4:30, and of course way slower than my (apparently unrealistic) wish for 4:15 or so.

I could go on about how I was on pace for 4:20 about halfway, and hung onto 4:30 till about mile 20...but I'll wait for a computer and maybe some race pics, if they're not too horrendous.

I took a small victory that I at least got in under 4:40!

Despite wearing recovery socks (which were great!) my legs are pretty tired and I'm still walking pretty gimpily (even if that's not a word, you know what I mean).

One more night at the lovely Westin (and tonight I really expect to appreciate the Heavenly Bed), though sadly, we have to leave early to get me to work in the morning. The end of the holiday weekend is near...sigh.
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Marathon Eve

My mother and I drove down to Seattle this afternoon to stay over for the marathon. Yes, it is only 30-some miles away, but last year the morning traffic was so bad that we vowed not to do that again!

We're staying at the Westin, and at the last minute (about a week ago) I added Sunday night so we didn't have to rush home tomorrow. Plus my mom will have a place to hang out while I am running!

The hotel was VERY busy. Of course it was full of runners (not just staying here but going to the Expo as well), but there were also TONS of little kids with their parents. There must be something else happening for them.

After we settled into our nice, somewhat pie-shaped room (the hotel towers are round), we went down to the Expo so I could get my bib and chip and shop. I realized later that I didn't grab safety pins, but luckily I had some already pinned to other running gear.

The only thing I wanted from the Expo was another pair of compression socks (even though I ordered two pair online yesterday). I ended up with two pair, one black and one green. (Didn't need two, but the price was good, $50, no tax.) I have decided to wear my older pair to run tomorrow...this way I will have a clean pair for, well, recovery!

I had hoped to sign up with a pace group, but the only ones they had were up through 4:00, plus 4:45 (WHY?). I was hoping for 4:15 or thereabouts....

I decided to get an un-free 30-minute massage, so my mother headed back upstairs while I did. My ankle and calf have been tight all week, but I wore the compression socks today, and that and the massage helped a lot, I think.

I also ended up buying a Seattle Marathon hoodie. I am taken with the hoodie style because I like carrying stuff in the front pocket like a kangaroo. This one is white and it was the last medium...so obviously I had to snap it up.

We had reservations for dinner at Palomino, a WONDERFUL restaurant. But...we didn't feel like walking five blocks there in the dark. So I cancelled the reservation and we ordered room service instead.

The Westin has a lovely (though pricy) room service menu, but I wanted something simple. I ended up getting the kid's spaghetti with tomatoe sauce plus a kid's turkey sandwich. My mom got a more adult grilled chicken panini and tomato soup. I ate some of the soup and we also shared the two warm rolls that came with the soup. I think this did the job for carb-loading and I am not overstuffed. (We also had some cookies for dessert that I brought.)

I've set the alarm and requested a wake-up call, and also laid out my clothes and gear for morning. I'm still on the fence whether to wear a jacket other than my throwaway. I am sure I don't really need it...but I will decide in the morning, I guess.

Eight hours to wake up time....
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Thanksgiving dinner

Is she cute or what?
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