He Had A Dream.....

Happy Birthday Doug!

I feel like such a horrible wife. With all the crazy training Doug and I put ourselves through the past few months AND then all the races that took place each weekend this month, his birthday was an after thought. 38 came and went, but I think this past weekend made up for his special day. (at least I hope it did).

Never in a million years would I have thought Doug would shave his legs for something. Apparently, I was proven wrong. It began last year (the dream) not shaving his legs, when we received a Christmas letter in the mail from one our friends. On the letter it stated that he ( sorry I don't recall who) had done a century bike ride. I remember distinctly how it struck Doug's attention and him saying, "Wow, I totally want to do something like that." As Christmas passed, bike riding was put on the back burner. If anyone knows my husband he HATES riding in the winter months. I convinced him to run a half marathon with me in the spring, but knew he truely didn't enjoy any minute of it. I was secretly hoping a race would give him the excitment and passion to run. Wrong. It was something he did for me.

Doug, Greg, Trent, Mark, Mike and Tye

August rolled around and he had been bike riding 2-3 times a week and seemed to enjoy it. I even went out a few times and rode with him. It was then I piped in and said you really won't appreciate it until you do a race. August 15th, he got online and did some research. He found the Tour de Tuscon was 4 months away. He had plenty of time to train and registered. At the time none of his friends were registered, but it didn't take long until he convinced 5 other buddies to join him on the adventure.

I was lucky enough to join them as a spectator to watch them do this amazing race they had all worked to hard for. I have never been at at bicycle race and was surprised how organized it was. I feared with all the bikes it really could end up as a catastrophe. They section riders off into catagories. There is a Platnium, Gold and Silver section. Platnium riders are those who have qualified under 5 hours for a 109 bike ride.

There were over 8600 bicyclists!! It made me claustrophobic just looking at them.

I think with any race you always have your "hard core" people. These guys were in the front of the start line. I was intimidated just looking at them in their matching attire.

I have often wondered about these aero-dynamic helmets. I think they look more alienish than anything. I was particularly intrigued by this riders bright yellow shoes. I thought they looked so cool!

I was able to climb on top of one of the ladders and had an awesome view of everything. How cool would it be to be the first guy off the starting block? And....they're off!

Doug's group was in the middle of the pack in the "gold" section. I was surprised I spotted them right as they were going through the start line.

They left the start line around 7am. Bye honey....good luck! (He is #3041 in blue)

My friend Heather joined me to watch her husband too. I was so glad she came, because I don't think I would have gotten around to certain points of the city without her! As you can see it was extremely windy. Something Doug really didn't want for the race.

We attempted to catch up to the guys around mile 40, but it was super hard to try and locate them. They thought that their matching blue jersey's may be helpful, but I think everyone else was thinking blue too! After waiting for a while, we finally got a glimpse of Doug for a split second. Bike riding is NOTHING like running. You literally see them for the blink of an eye and their gone. We headed over to about mile 85 and decided to watch the first rider until we found our husbands. Doug said his goal was to be approximately 45 minutes behind the first guy and he was pretty much right on. Needless to say I was impressed he maintained his 20mph speed the entire race.

While waiting, Heather saved the day by pulling hazardous debre off the rode for the bikers. They really should all be thanking her for saving their lives. :)

Each time I saw a blue jersey I snapped photos like crazy just in case it was Doug.

As you can see I got a little picture crazy.

Just as I was wondering when he would show up on the route...there is was! Doug and Trent, looking serious, but still smiles on their faces! He was still in good spirits and gave me the hang loose sign. At this point he had about 20 miles to go. We didn't really know where the other guys were or where they had dropped off from them. We waited about 20 minutes and had to head back to the finish line in order to see Doug cross.

Doug and Trent

5:33:41

As we were trying to make our way back to the finish line, traffic was horrible. We drove like mad, but unfortunately I missed him. Instead I got a phone call when I was about 5 minutes away, I was so excited to hear how proud he was to have finished such a tough race. And yes, Doug you did AWESOME. I was so proud of him and even got a little emotional. I was happy to hear he had Trent along the side of him the entire way. He said he really couldn't have done it without a friend. They motivated each other and kept each other going.

I was in awe of all the salt that Doug's face collected from that many hours of riding.

It looks like he jumped in the ocean!

They each trickled in one after the other, but eventually all finished this tough race. Doug is already talking about doing it all over again next year. I was so proud and excited for him. I know how hard he worked and he really wants to gain a platnium title. I have no doubt he will do. It was awesome to be a spectator for once watching a race. It definitely gives you a different perspective. Way to go guys!!

Scorpion Arm Warmers

Carol, Amber, Me, Denise and Stephanie

I am not sure if it was pride, anger, or just me being selfish....but last Sunday Amber and I decided to sign up with our other gal pals and join them on their half marathon Saturday. I was determined to get a personal record after such a disappointing finish last week. I have ran 6 marathon's in the 1:50 range, but knew I could do better. After such intense training, especially dreadful sprints once a week, I had to see if the magazines held true of becoming faster. Initially, it sounded like an fun idea, but as the week went on I realized I am seriously burned out. I went into the race completely different than the week before. I treated this race as more of a fast training run, bagged my "good" diet for the week, and went back to drinking diet coke as my main staple (it had been water). And you know what?? I ended up with my best time yet. 1:46:47. I am thinking it was my new scorpion arm warmers, my husband bought me the night before....definitely makes me wonder....

My Marathon

Our 3rd

20 mile training run

My journey began well before my race last Saturday. Those who have ever trained for such an event know that the training is the biggest part. In order to be successful you have to realize how much TIME it takes to train. You also need to convince your running friends this will be such a great thing and get them to register to endure the pain with you.

Another key factor is the support of your family. Because without it, you not only will be feeling guilty by the amount of time it takes to run each week, but you truely won't enjoy any of it. Doug was a huge roll on how well I was able to train. Starting in July every Sunday night I had to be in bed around 9pm knowing I was getting up at 3am to run Monday morning. My family suffered because after 7pm each night I was pretty much a vegetable on the couch or beyond grumpy due to exhaustion. I owe my husband a HUGE thank you for enduring through these past 4 months. As well as my kids. Yes, I do feel extremely blessed to have a wonderful husband....., THANK YOU Doug! Lastly, I really think my running buddies helped me become physically ready for such a task. Truthfully, the thought of running 4 twenty mile long runs makes me quiver. Special thanks to my friends, Minnie, Tiffany, Marisol and especially Amber for encouraging me to finish. I sound like I am writing a fairwell or a book....ha ha. However, having said all of this I will allow you to enter into my thoughts on my marathon.

I probably have a completely different outlook on it now than if I would have written this the day after it occurred. So many people ask, well..."how was it?" It's definitely hard to sum up in one sentence, I think I experienced about every emotion possible during that 4 hour time I was running. At any rate, it was honestly the most difficult task I have ever endured in my 35 years thus far. Our flight boarded around 2pm Friday and arrived one hour later at this quaint airport in Santa Barbara.

coming uphill

mile 20

We decided to head over to the expo, grab our packets and drive the course. I still don't really know if it was a good or bad idea. I had studied the online elevation, but I needed a visual in order for me to prepare mentally. For the most part the things I had read and studied showed the course to be mostly a downhill race. This made me happy because we did a lot of hill training, but if we had a downhill race, time would be on our side. But, I should have known better, afterall I was in Santa Barbara. The course was absolutely beautiful despite ALL of the hills we encountered.

Perhaps the first thing that may have been bad karma if there is such a thing...is a 30 minute start time delay. Which meant we waited for a good 1.5 hours before we even started running. The first few miles weren't bad, the air was a little thicker (80%) humidity with temperatures around 60 degrees. I never expected to feel my running groove until about mile 8. Mile 8 came and I still felt like I was struggling even though we were keeping pretty much on the time we wanted to be at. I never really felt great. We passed through the half way mark around 1:50, 2 minutes ahead of schedule. My heartrate remained high (upper 170's) which is not really where I wanted to be. Ideally, the 160's would have been best. Around mile 17 my body was screaming at me in all ways possible. I had a side ache, was feeling dizzy, the ground was moving beneath me and thoughts ran through my head...."seriously!!.... I don't think I can seriously finish this!" I drank water, tried to eat a little bit of a cliff bar and chased down a gu. This got me through until mile 22 which is really where I wanted to cry. The photo doesn't give it really justice, but it was like looking up a steep mountain and knowing your legs are literally like bricks and jello all at once. You better believe I let out a loud "UggggGHhhh!" at this point.

Dreadful mile 22

The famous lightpost Amber and I started our last 4 miles to finish the race!

We decided at this point we were about 4 minutes off the pace we needed to be at to qualify for Boston and made an executive decision to walk the dreadful hill. My original plan was never to walk, but 1/2 mile of walking sounded pretty good, especially how physically, and emotionally exhausted I was at this point. Once we reached the peak we ran in the rest of the way, which felt like ETERNITY. At that point, I felt like I was shuffling, my calves and quads were on fire. However, I endured and made it in 11 minutes shy of my Boston time. Our chip time was 3:57:53.

Yay we are finished!!

Initially, I wasn't happy with my time, but knew I gave it my all and couldn't have done any better. I definitely have come to realize running a marathon is a pretty great accomplishment! Not to mention running it under 4 hours with some pretty nasty hills. The sad part is you know you are addicted if you are already talking about doing it all over again next year. I am a little burned out right now, but come next summer I am sure I will be starting the process all over again. After the race, it was nice to relax and actually be able to sleep. I don't think I had a good nights rest the week prior to the race. My nerves were out of control. Hopefully now that I know what to expect next time, it will be a much easier experience.....

Amber and I emotional talking to our hubbies about the race.

Once we showered and regained our appetites, you better believe that In and Out was a must!

Then on to the beach for a little rest and recovery. It was blissful taking a nap with the waves crashing in front of you.

We arrived home Sunday and my legs are just now starting to feel a sense of normalcy. I do feel a little emptiness not having a huge goal to shoot for, but I know that mixing things up will be a good thing. We have another race this weekened (call me crazy) Amber and I decided to sign up for a half marathon and then a 10K for Thanksgiving. It's more like tapering right?

So, again if someone asked me the question..."how was it?" I would have to reply by saying, it was one of the best things (aside from marriage and kids) that I have ever done. Would I do it again, ABSOLUTELY!

Mental Game

I know a few people who have their kids sign their shoes or even write on their toes for good luck. I contemplated the shoes, but then decided at this point it's a mental game. This has been my trusty visor through the entire training. It saved me on those 100 degree mornings at 4am. It has soaked up sweat, salt and kept my face from burning. However, the velcro is coming loose and I think it only has about 26.2 miles left of life.

My kids, Doug and friends signed for good luck. My bag is packed and now it is time to take the plunge. Head first here I go!!! .......Boston or bust!