1/2 Marathon and Beyond

So, I'll be honest here: I've had it with the training for this thing! About 3 weeks left to go?! Seriously?! I'm about to create the Desiree Smith 1st Half Marathon this Sunday and run it myself and be done. The blisters are annoying the crap out of me. I just want this to be done and over with already. Nevertheless...I'm staying on top of training, and it's going well. I did 11 miles last Friday morning - took all my will power to get out of bed at 5 AM for that one. But anyway...

Last Saturday I went to my boyfriend's cousin's wedding. It was SO much fun! The area behind the church was absolutely beautiful, a stunning view of Lake Michigan. I had a great time with my boyfriend and his family. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:











That last photo of Phil and I is my absolute FAVORITE! Love the city skyline, love our smiles in this photo. I also love that I look more toned than I have in a long time, and so this photo really inspires me to stay healthy!

I realize that after the half marathon is over, it won't be long before shorter daylight hours and colder weather is upon us again, and I'll need something new to keep me motivated. So after some careful research on training, I finally registered for the Sky Rise Chicago Tower Up! event sponsored by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. In other words...I will be climbing all 103 floors of the Willis (Sears) Tower.

RIC provides world-class rehabilitation care to patients - children and adults - from around the globe for traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, as well as stroke and cancer. The funds raised through SkyRise Chicago will directly impact patients' lives by supporting advances in patient care and cutting-edge research at RIC.

It's pretty intimidating, climbing stairs are a different beast! I will start training about a week after the half has taken place, so I will have plenty of time to prepare. The training tips for the Hustle up the Hancock helped me decide to participate in this event - yes, I realize the Hancock is a shorter building, however, it says you should be able to easily run 3 miles regularly before participating in that stair climb - so I figure training for 13 miles makes it OK to climb the Willis Tower.

I am required to fundraise at least $100 for the event, in addition to the $50 registration fee I paid to participate. I will push this more over the coming months, but will still make mention of it now - if you would like to donate to the cause, you can do so on my Personal Page for the event. ANY amount, small or large, is greatly appreciated! If just 10 people donate $10, or 20 people donate $5, I can reach my goal. I will be honest - I hate doing fundraising, hate asking people for money. But if you could help out this cause and help me reach my goal, it would really mean a lot to me!

1/2 Marathon Training: Week 9

This is the start of Week 9 (out of 12 weeks) of training for the half marathon. At this point, I am confident the race itself will not be a problem and I'm ready for it! I am up to 10 miles at a time now. I'll run 11 at some point this week - whatever day seems to be the least horrendously humid. I just checked out Tom Skilling's forecast, and I don't think I'm going to have much luck there. So whatever day I'm "feeling it", that's the day I'll go run.

As I've moved into higher miles, I've experienced some not-so-fun things that I either didn't think about, know about, or expect. If you're thinking of training for a long distance race like the one I am, I'm going to share these with you so that hopefully you can prevent them!

Black Toenail

This is the most recent fun filled adventure I'm dealing with. As my nail polish started to wear off, I noticed on my left foot that the toenail next to my big toe looked black. After days of not wanting to face what laid beneath the nail polish, I finally took the polish off and saw that about 75% of the toenail is now black. I remembered that after my first 10 mile run, that toe was hurting me for a couple of days. So I turned to Google and read about the fun of Black Toenail.

As you walk or run, your foot slides forward in your shoe, banging your toes against the top, front, and sides with each step. Your feet also swell during a walk or run and get compressed by your socks and shoes. That pressure and impact can damage your toenail beds, or create a blister under the toenail itself. When this happens, the extra blood and fluid cause your toenail to separate from the toenail bed, or the "toenail in training" as the Jeff Galloway site calls it. The blood colors the toenail black.

I've learned that my toenail will be normal again in 4 to 5 months. Beautiful.

Blisters

Blisters, blisters, blisters! I'll be honest, my feet are looking pretty gruesome right now! It started with one blister after my 6 mile run, just beneath my right big toe along the side of my foot. It was a mild blister, so I let it be. With each run, a new blister formed on top of it. Before my first 10 mile run, I decided to use some athletic tape on the blister to prevent it from getting worse. The tape rubbing against my skin caused a NEW blister beneath the one I was trying to protect that was far worse than the first! This thing was like 4 layers deep! I put Neosporin on it every night and that helped it heal faster.

Then when I bought new running shoes, those caused 2 blisters on my other foot. It seems I have finally found a solution now: I put a large cloth Band-Aid over the blister, then wrap that bandage once with athletic tape. At the end of my second 10 mile run, all the Band-Aids had stayed in place, no new blisters, and no more damage to the old ones!

Chafing

I've experienced this along the inside of my bicep that rubs against my tank top as well as between my thighs. Chafing is simply skin irritation. Some areas have lost a layer of skin or so! I dealt with this after my 7 mile and 8 mile runs. Finally I decided to look up some solutions, and a lot of runner's blogs recommended Body Glide, so I purchased some at Sports Authority. This stuff is AWESOME! I have had no problems since then.

Dehydration

I've finally forced myself to get used to running with a water bottle in my hand. As I've moved into the higher miles, staying hydrated is more important than ever. During my first 10 mile run, I don't think I took in enough water. I felt very dizzy after the run, and on my drive home (I had gone running with my boss that day), I had to pull over at two different fast food restaurants to throw up. Learned my lesson!!! My second 10 miler this past Friday went much better, as I made sure to drink all my water along the way :)


I felt so great after my run on Friday night that a part of me is starting to contemplate a full marathon. I completely believe that I COULD do it. The question is, do I WANT to?! I don't know if I feel like putting in the time and commitment for that one. We shall see...