The Seattle Marathon 2013: That Time I Ran a Marathon Without Training

Alternate title: Allison's a Doofus.

Why did I think running a marathon without any training would be a good idea?

Last year I was WAAAYYY overtrained and this year, I was WAAAYYYY undertrained. What a difference! I think I much prefer being overtrained, but I was also pretty unhappy last year as well. A story for another time! Anyways...

Here's a spoiler alert: I finished! There were many times I didn't think I was going to make it and several times I thought of just stopping. I finished in a pathetic 4.02. I'm trying to tell myself that's actually a pretty good time having not done any training (except for one 18 mile run a month ago). My time was faster than my first marathon was, even though its almost a half hour slower than what I ran on the Seattle Marathon course last year.

Start line at Seattle Center. There go the walkers!

Let's start at the beginning. I always get so angry that the Seattle Marathon makes you go all the way downtown during the busiest shopping weekend of the year to get your bib. Like, I get seriously irrationally angry about it. I wish you could just pick up your bib at their office, which is close to my apartment! Grrr. I was lucky enough to have a friend who picked up my bib for me the night before the race so I didn't have to deal with shoppers, parking and driving downtown.

I was slightly worried about the weather. The forecast was for rain and wind all day long. Luckily, it didn't rain the entire time, was quite warm, and the wind wasn't all that bad! Score! Just goes to show: no need to worry about something that is out of your control!

I was able to get my bib, get downtown and find some free street parking very quickly on race morning. Since it wasn't too cold, I had a light long sleeve shirt on, shorts and compression socks. I decided to run with my hydration pack because it just makes me feel more comfortable having everything with me, including water whenever I needed it. I was debating whether to wear my older shoes or newer shoes. I went with the older ones, but I think it is definitely time to retire them! Since I haven't been racing for a year or so, I wasn't really paying attention to how many miles are on my shoes, but it's safe to say these guys are finished now.

I had about 45 minutes by the time I got to the start line before the gun, so I wandered around, went to the bathroom several times, and looked around at all the Christmas decorations up around Seattle Center. Before I knew it, I lined up in the corral. I took my place around the 4 hour pacer, but really didn't have a clue what my legs were going to feel like doing. Before I knew it we were off!

Almost immediately, my stomach started cramping up. Grrreeeaaatttt. I passed the port-a-potties at mile 2 and decided to try and make it to the next set before stopping. I wanted to walk so badly, but knew I would just feel so stupid walking in the first 2 miles, so I slugged on. By the time I got to the next set of bathrooms, my stomach was feeling better so I didn't stop. Luckily, it kept getting better so I never had to stop at all! Thank goodness!

Despite the stomach trouble, my body felt pretty good early on. I was trying to hold myself back a bit, but wasn't doing a very good job. I probably should have started off slower and I know better than to start off too fast, but I didn't even know what I should have held myself back at! Yes, I was that unprepared and under-trained that I didn't even know what pace I should try to stay at. Zero plan for the win.

Mile 1: 8.36
Mile 2: 8.47
Mile 3: 8.44
Mile 4: 8.51
Mile 5: 8.21
Mile 6: 8.52

I ended up feeling pretty comfortable around where the 4-hour pacer was for most of the race, which was actually really annoying. I HATE running near the pacers because there is always such a crowd of people around them. I kept running ahead to try to stay away from them, but those little pesky guys kept catching up to me!

We ran over the bridge and back, which was less windy than I thought it was going to be. I saw so many people losing their hats, though! It's always nice to be able to see the leaders heading the other way on the way out and to see all the people behind you on the way back. We headed off the bridge onto Lake Washington Blvd. and I was still feeling pretty good. I was starting to get a little tired, and wondered how I was going to possibly finish. I debated just stopping at the half and asking for a ride back.

I was running right behind a girl who was on her 4th marathon in four days. I think her name was Tanya because people kept yelling at her. Anyways, it was a great distraction thinking about how tough that would be. I could barely even think about finishing just the one!

Mile 7: 9.25
Mile 8: 9.05
Mile 9: 8.43
Mile 10: 8.49
Mile 11: 8.46
Mile 12: 8.50
Mile 13: 8.55

We hit Seward Park and then turned around to head back to the bridge. I was starting to feel pretty tired at this point. I'd already taken a Gu, but decided to try some Gatorade at the next water station. I never drink Gatorade and I didn't know how it was going to effect my stomach, but I figured I might as well give it a shot. Idiot, party of one! Luckily it was a great help and I continued work well through the rest of the race.

At this point, I was just telling myself to get to mile 18. I knew I could make it that far since the only long run I'd done was 18 miles about a month ago. My body was feeling tired, my feet (especially my neuroma) hurt and I was doing everything I could to distract myself. It was a really weird place to be in so early in the race. I didn't want to pep myself up and start going faster, since I didn't actually know how long I would hold out. But, of course, I didn't want to dwell on how I was feeling because it wasn't that great!

Mile 14: 9.01
Mile 15: 9.08
Mile 16: 9.13
Mile 17: 9.02
Mile 18: 9.09
Mile 19: 9.29

I was slowing down and I knew it. I didn't do much to combat it and figured my body was trying to tell me something. Instead of kicking myself in the butt to go faster, I just told myself to keep going. I watched the bridge getting closer and closer. We wound our way along the water and back up. Then the hills started and I was dying. I ended up stopping at an aid tent for some Vaseline at one point because I was chaffing pretty badly. The culprit was between my legs, and of course the aid tent I stopped at was lined with people, all of whom watched me lather Vaseline between my legs. Haha, it helped!

Mile 20: 9.33
Mile 21: 9.55
Mile 22: 9.31
Mile 23: 9.50

Once I hit mile 20, I knew I was going to finish. I wanted to stop and walk more than ever, but kept telling myself the faster I went, the sooner it would be over and I could go home to my couch.

I may look happy, but I was dying!

I literally was just waiting for each water station as they came, where I would stop and take a few sips of Gatorade before picking it back up again. I hadn't walked in a marathon since my first one, but I could not help it. I ended up taking two walk breaks that lasted a minute and a half. They saved my life. Somehow I made it through all the tough hills running (or slogging), but the places I ended up walking were actually pretty flat! Haha, go figure. I was flabbergasted how much my quads hurt going up those hills though! I felt like I had just squatted 78 kilos or something. My guess is teaching an extra class two days before the race must have done it.

Mile 24: 10.44
Mile 25: 10.19
Mile 26: 9.35
Final .34: 3.16

The final miles were tough, to say the least. I just wanted it to be over was was cursing the dude in Greece who ran 26.2 miles and made that the "marathon". Why couldn't the guy ahve run 24 miles? Or 22 miles? Thinking back I was pretty delirious =)

The most bizarre thing kept running through my head every time I wanted to walk. I kept thinking how unfair it was to Milo that I was walking without him. Haha, whatever keeps me moving, I guess!

The finish line finally came, which ends in the stadium at Seattle Center. I didn't even try to pick it up at the end. I just trucked along, ran through the finish, got my medal and kept walking until I got to my car. I just wanted to be warm and sitting down!

I finished in 4.02 with an average pace of 9.13. I'll take it. Marathon #4 finished!

The race itself was great. As usual, The Seattle Marathon put on a great event. Lots of bathrooms, water stops, Gu stations and recovery area. I remember last year there being a lot more crowd support along the way, but that wasn't anyone's fault this year. I'll bet the threat of bad weather kept people away, which I totally understand. Other than that, I enjoyed this race for the second year in a row.

I would like to say that I will never do something this dumb again. I'll bet that next year, however, I'm going to forget all about this and do the same thing all over again. I live, I don't learn. Sigh. =)

Run All the Races!

Oh boy, oh boy.

Anyone else feel like this after this weekend?

I was getting text messages all weekend with New York friends saying they were thinking about me since the NYC Marathon was happening. And with my twitter feed blowing up about the king of all races (aka NYC Marathon), and the Florida Ironman that was happening, I have a seriously urge to run all of the races. All of them!

Of course, my bank account and probably my body would hate that idea. So I am trying to keep a level mind about these things. That hardly ever works for me, but there's always a first time!

I debated pretty hard on Sunday whether I wanted to do my long run on the road or head back to the trails. Running around Cougar Mountain just sounded so much more interesting than slogging down the Burke Gilman. So I took my booty back to the trails!

This little tyke had to stay home this time. A - I didn't
feel like having another panic attack on the freeway from a
puking pup and, B - I wanted to run longer than
he could handle.

It was another beautiful day on Cougar Mountain. I wanted to run somewhere between 2 and 2.5 hours.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of people out and about. I like trail running better when I hardly run into anyone!

Nonetheless, I was happy to be out on the trails instead of slogging down the road in Seattle! I wasn't too worried about losing my way this time, except for the section that was renamed, so I was kind of confused at one point but made it through just fine!

The trail I took wasn't my favorite. There was one section that was super technical - lots of roots and rocks and things to trip over and it was very steep down.

I was afraid I was going to twist an ankle and had to take it super slowly. I think one of my miles in this section took almost 18 minutes!

There were lots of branches and trees that had fallen from the wind storm the day before. At one point there was suddenly a huge tree blocking my path. I had to stand there and figure out how to navigate it. I ended up crawling on all fours underneath to get to the other side.

I made a deal with myself that if I took my long run to the trails this weekend that I would have to road-run next weekend. And I'm ready!

I ended up running for about 2 hours and 18 minutes, so I'm not too worried about crossing the finish line of the marathon much anymore. I'm mostly just silly excited! And, luckily, I'm not sore at all today and feel really good, so I must have done something right!

Tiger Mountain 25k Race Recap

15.5 miles on Tiger! Actually, this wasn't so much of a race as a fun-run for Seattle-area trail runners who are in-the-know. When I first signed up (actually there was no sign up, so maybe I should just say 'committed') for this race (fun run), my Tough Mudder team from CrossFit was all in. Some of our group weren't runners at all, so it was going to be quite a challenge for them, going from zero to 15 miles in a few months. Needless to say, there only ended up being 3 of the original 6 or 7 who had set out to train. Due to injuries, families, etc. most of our team dropped out. I even dropped down from the 50k to the 25k. Apparently we are all slackers or we are all over-training. Probably the latter for the majority of us!

Anyways, after deciding to do the 25k instead of the 50 early last week, I felt a huge relief. I had run the Tiger Mountain loop before, so I knew what I was getting myself into. After my less than stellar first 50k experience, I think I made the right decision in saying no to 9 hours on a mountain without any facilities. 4 hours I knew I could handle!

Good morning! It's early and dark, but I'm ready
and roaring to run up a mountain!

We started off at 7:30 am. The actual "race" start time was 8 am, but my group wanted to get a head start so we weren't stuck behind slower runners.

We started out as a five-some: Jess, Jim, Van, Matt and I. Van, Jess and, I think, Jim are all seasoned ultra marathon and trail runners, so I was slightly intimidated. I knew, however, that Jess would never have put me in a situation that I couldn't handle, so I wasn't too worried.

Being the amazingly smart person I am, I totally forgot to bring my headlamp. Actually, it didn't even cross my mind. I foolishly assumed it would be light when we started.

Blackness. 

We started off, and both Matt and I were lucky that everyone else had remembered lights, so they were able to shine enough light for us to run somewhat safely. Honestly I couldn't see much at all, and was terrified I was going to twist an ankle on a root or something, but I made it just fine. This was the first of several instances where I felt like I was holding everyone back.

It started getting light, luckily, soon after we started. Whew!

I wish I could tell you what trails we took, but I honestly can't remember for the life of me. I have the WORST sense of direction. And it only gets worse when I'm on a mountain. The only trail I remember taking was called the Poo Poo Point Trail, but I can't remember which part it was for the life of me.

What was great about this run was that runners had come out to "mark" it earlier in the week with holiday decorations including bows, ornaments and ribbons. It was a fun little surprise to see what we would find next. Sometimes the markers would be hanging on trees or branches, or just draped over a bush. Pretty original idea, that made the run that much more fun!

Purple ribbon! We're going the right way!

Pretty much straight off, we started heading up. And up and up and up. I LOVE uphills. They are SO much easier for me than downhill, where the loss of control is so uncomfortable for me.

Van taking the lead!

This was definitely the part of the trail that I was most comfortable with. I was following pretty closely behind the leader and was just enjoying my surroundings. This side of the mountain had lots of greenery and fallen leaves (still!), and the ground wasn't very technical. Probably why I enjoyed it so much.

Some neat arching branches. Gorgeous!

After climbing for several miles, my body started screaming at me a bit. Mostly my hamstrings and my back. I was pretty much cursing my Crossfit coach for having us row a 2k on Thursday. But we finally made it past the direct uphills!

Snow! (And Jess's elbow)

I think it was around mile 6 or 7 that we finally saw snow. I've mentioned before, but I become giddy when I see snow. This time was no different, so I obviously pulled out my camera.

Little did I know, because we saw snow almost the rest of the run. At this point, the snow was just along the side of the trail and we didn't have to run through any at all.

When you are running a trail, it is pretty imperative that you look where you are going. Even glancing up for a second can mean disaster. I made sure during this loop, though, to take my time and enjoy what was going on around me. I have the pleasure of living in such a beautiful part of the country and runs like this make me feel so grateful!

I remember thinking during the run how big the world is and how beautiful! I get caught up so much in day to day life and running on the trails helps me put my life in perspective. Your problems become so small and it's easy to escape your thoughts while you are out there. I feel like I can relate it to a yoga class where you are surrendering to and moving with your breath. Well, I always feel like my goal when I go to yoga is to get out of my head, but maybe that's just me! Anyway, while I was running on Saturday, I found myself able to let go a little and just be. T'was nice and just what I needed!

One thing I love about running on Tiger Mountain, this loop especially, is the diversity along the way. Seriously, every side of the mountain is different, so it's impossible to get bored.

Several miles after we first saw snow, it became apparent that it was only going to get worse. By worse, I mean the snow started covering the trail and we had to run (I say the term "run" loosely here) through 6-inch snow drifts.

Following Matt through the snow banks.

Eventually, Matt and I decided just to walk. It actually got pretty hysterical there for awhile. We would try to run and just get stuck or slide out. I couldn't help but burst out laughing. I wish someone had been taping us because it was seriously like Beevis and Butthead.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

We started heading back uphill again, this time in the snow. Along the way, we passed the "Christmas tree". The tree is adorned with ornaments that it has collected from years of this race. It also had some lights on it. Truly spectacular looking among the snowy scene we were traversing.

Up and up and up. Just the way I like it!

The snow-scene got slightly more hysterical as we kept going up. There were several times when I broke down because I was laughing so hard after getting stuck in a several foot deep snow drift.

Jess and I. All smiles!

I was still feeling great at mile 13! I was worried about my stomach, but it was still holding out and my body was saying "more, more, more!"

Below is a picture from one of my favorite parts of the trail. At this point, you are getting close to one of the summits and you have been traversing slightly up for awhile. You can look up and see sunlight streaming in through the trees while, if you look down, it looks like a dark abyss. It's almost like daylight and darkness in one place. Very cool. If only I could run with my DSLR so I could get a better picture of it!

We finally stepped out to one of the summits to find several feet deep of snow. At this point, we started heading downhill, and I was SO scared! If only I'd known how much worse it was going to get! I took it really slow (again, feeling like I was slowing down the crew). I was amazed as some of the guys started bounding (yes, literally bounding!) down the hill. What took them 30 seconds probably took me 10 minutes at least!

By this time, my feet were a sloppy mess! Luckily it wasn't cold at all, but stepping in all the snow had left my ankles a little chilly!

Jess is wearing a t-shirt and shorts.
I was wearing 3 layers and long pants. Haha!

We finally made it through the huge snow drifts and I found myself in a place slightly more terrifying: ice!

We headed even farther down the mountain in the snow, which had become almost a solid sheet of ice. I was walking at this point, just trying not to break my neck while others were skillfully sliding down the hill next to me. Several people tried to give me advice on running down the ice: leaning slightly forward, and using small, quick steps.

Nothing helped, though. I am already a slow downhill runner, but the ice made it impossible for me. I was just getting more and more frustrated at this point. Mostly at myself because I think it was my inability to lose control (life lesson, obviously) that I couldn't get down the stupid mountain.

The farther we went, the less icy it got, thank goodness. I was finally able to keep up a bit better. It was around this time that my stomach started cramping again. I was expecting this after my 50k several weekends ago, so I guess I was grateful it held out for this long.

The last few miles were tough. Between my stomach and my knee, which had randomly started hurting, I was just putting one foot in front of the other. Every time I took a step, I felt a sharp pain in my knee. Sometimes this happens when I am going downhill, so I knew it wasn't serious, just part of the game.

3:48 FTW! Garmin looses signal in the forest,
so it only caught 13.5 miles instead of the full 15.5

We finally made it back! Almost 4 hours later. To put that in perspective, last time I ran this loop, which was several months ago sans snow, I finished a little over 3 hours. Haha. Silly ice slowing me down!

Matt and I. Matt rocked his first long race!

I must be getting stronger because last time, my legs were such a mess after running this loop. This time, my legs were fine, minus the knee pain! Jess and Jim started gearing up to head back out for another loop, and I felt a slight twinge of jealousy, but knew I would have had a very hard time and my recovery would have taken most of the week. I know I made the right decision to stick with the 25k.

The group! Matt, me, Jess and Jim.

All in all, I had a great run! I was on a running high the first 12 miles, until we hit the ice and my body started showing signs of fatigue. I was very happy, even giddy, most of the time! I feel lucky to have found this trail running community, and can't wait for more and more trails!

Pigtails 50k Race Recap

I am now an official ultra-marathoner!

I'm not going to say this race was easy, and most of it wasn't even fun. Both of which kind of go against my love of running. But I finished! Let's start at the beginning.

As I mentioned before, I had been having some hip pain since I ran the Seattle Marathon. Friday afternoon, I went to my Crossfit gym, just to see if one of the trainers, Scott, could help me loosen it up a bit. From what he deduced, my TFL (tensor fasciae leatae) muscle in my thigh was causing the hip pain. Apparently, my hip flexors were overworked and my TFL was taking over, which it was apparently very angry about!

Once we figured out the problem, I basically tried to give it some relief by finding a trigger point, moving my leg where it didn't hurt anymore, and then trying to relax it for 30 seconds to a minute.

It seemed to work well! Although I still had a little pain when I left, I was feeling much more confident that I was going to get through 31 miles the next day.

By  Saturday morning, the pain had gone away, but my thigh was aching a little bit. That made me a little worried, but figured that trying to release it the previous evening would leave some residual strain.

I met my favorite running girls bright and early at 6:30am and we headed out to Maple Valley to the Cedar River Trail.

Jess, Me and Beth. Different day. Same awesome friends!

For Beth and I, this race would be a new PDR (personal distance record). Beth was running her first marathon and I was running my first 50k. Ready to run hard and take names!

Ready. To. Go! And also cold. Brrr.

Of course, Ultramarathoner Jess has done too many of these races to count, so she was just looking to get a good 50k in the books.

The race itself was small. After going through numerous races with the New York Road Runners in NYC, I will forever be amazed when I am not in a corral with a billion other runners. There were probably around 100 or 200 participants, and the fun part was, most of them new each other! Apparently the trail running community in Washington is a small and tight-knit group!

We started off with a short mile out and back before hitting the main Cedar River Trail.

After we started down the main trail, it started snowing!!! If you know me in real life, you know I am like a little kid when it comes to snow. I get overly EXCITED!!! Seriously, I'm like Buddy the Elf. SNOW!

I started out with four (!) layers on. Even during my coldest race ever (in Central Park, 14 degrees F), I only had two layers on. Haha. I guess I was cold. I finally felt warm enough by mile 6 to shed my outer fleece so I was in 3 layers for most of the race. Beth flew on ahead because she is a speedy little demon runner! Jess and I had talked about sticking together for the race, both stipulating that the other could run ahead if they ever wanted to.

Photo courtesy of Takao Suzuki.

The first 8 miles flew by, I was loving the snow and just enjoying Jess's company and the other runners around us.

I started getting a dull aching pain on the right side of my stomach around mile 10, and I was hoping it would go away. News flash of the day: it didn't.

From then on, I was in a fierce battle with my stomach. It was complete war. Since the race was so small, there weren't any bathrooms along the course. I was on my own.

Around mile 13 I saw a gas station across the highway, so I told Jess I was going to go do some business and she was welcome to take off. Bless her heart, she said she would walk it out so I could catch up.

Catching up to Jess.
Photo courtesy of Takao Suzuki.

I was able to relieve some of the cramps and unsettling, and felt a bit better by the time I caught back up to her.

We hit the turn-around just before mile 14, and I was happy to be heading back.

The next few miles, I was able to ignore my stomach and enjoy myself. The snow had turned to a rain/sleet mix, which was a little less fun, but I was having fun cheering on the runners going in the opposite direction. Slowly but surely, my stomach decided to cramp back up.

By mile 17, I was not having fun anymore. My usual thought process when it comes to running and racing is: if it's not fun, it's not worth it. Usually I'm having lots of fun, but not this day.

I finally had to stop and walk. I told Jess she would not hurt my feelings if she kept going. But she wasn't having it. She told me we were in it together. Be still my heart =)

Frozen faces.

Every time I started running again, my stomach would cramp up and start bouncing around (best way I can describe it). By the second time we had to walk, I told Jess that I thought I may just have to drop down and just do the marathon instead of the 50k. This was probably around mile 20, and I could hardly fathom 6 more miles of this nonsense, let alone another 10. Jess said just what I needed to hear: that we had all the time in the world, and that we just had a short few miles to the aid station, a short 2.5 mile out and back and then another 4 miles and it would be over. I would be in the car again before I knew it. She knew that I could hit this mileage. Just knowing that and the fact that she was supporting me helped a great deal. I made up my mind to plow on.

Frustratingly enough, my body felt pretty good! My hip was fine, and despite some neuroma pain, I was good to go! Minus that darn stomach.

I tried so hard to keep myself out of a negative mindset, but I have never walked so much in a race before. While that was disappointing, I kept trying to tell myself that there were many more races in my future, and this was just a blip along the line.

We turned up a side road to tack on the extra 5ish miles from the marathoners. We were still alternating between walking and running and I was literally hanging on with everything I had. Everytime we walked and had to start running again, it was so painful. At this point in a race, if I am hurting, I try not to walk because starting up again makes it that much worse. My stomach just couldn't take it this day. All I could think about was getting back to the car and passing out.

I was able to get in a good 2.5 mile stretch of running as we headed back to the main trail, where I knew there was only about 5 miles left.

Same trail, different day.

At this point, both Jess and I were pretty quite, and I was so grateful to have my friend there. Every time I made us stop to walk, she would try to brighten my spirits. I was literally just putting one foot in front of the other. I started giving myself goals: walk for .25 miles, run for 1 mile, etc. We finally took off again about .8 miles from the finish and I just put my head down, tried to ignore the cramping and got the job done.

We finished 31.1 miles in 5:09:55. I think our "official" time was somewhere around 5:18.

The finish line. 

After we finished, I got warm clothes on, and we got on the road back home, I was able to reflect a little bit.
I have to say I am very proud of myself. It would have been easy to have thrown in the towel. I have another 50k planned in January, and I wasn't particularly attached or trained for this race. I wasn't having fun and certainly could have bowed out. But I didn't. I totally credit Jess with this, but I stuck with it and finished my first 50k. I didn't crush it, I wasn't anyone's hero, but I did what I said I was going to do despite some severe setbacks. May this be a lesson for the rest of my life =)

In case you are wondering about Beth, she finished her first marathon with flying colors!!

Trying to get warm. Love this girl!

I am looking forward to many more marathons, 50k's and the like in the future, but for this race, I seriously can't thank my friends enough. Knowing Beth was running her first marathon, and with Jess by my side, I was given a boost of support and inspiration I couldn't have gotten anywhere else.

My running loves. Always up for shenanigans, and spirit-perking!

Aaaaaannnnddddddddd on to the next!

*As a side note, I feel like I need to mention the tragedy in Newton that occurred on Friday. My heart is full of sadness and I am keeping that community in my thoughts and prayers. Senseless killing is never an easy thing to comprehend and I am still processing and trying to wrap my brain around what happened.