It all starts with a dream...

The night before the Athens Classic Marathon I had a ridiculous pre-marathon dream. This happens all the time, where someone is preoccupied with something so much in waking hours that it takes over in sleeping hours as well. The dream went like this: I had a marathon to run and had to get up at 4 am - all three of boys were tagging along. It was a pot luck marathon so I had a huge crock pot full of chili I was carting along. I needed to drop off my youngest at the free babysitting services my church was providing for the marathon. No matter that the church is 30 minutes from where my "dream" marathon was to take place. I dropped him off and realized I needed to use the restroom. I sit down on a toilet and start to um...use it. All of a sudden I see that I am not in a bathroom stall but rather right out in the open - on a toilet sitting behind the welcome desk at my church. The toilet is there to promote clean drinking water around the world...there are nicely dressed ladies at church walking around the lobby and I am praying that nobody notices me. Next thing I know I am at the marathon - getting ready to start. I walk down some steps to the beach and see a huge puddle of water in the sand. I look down and see that I have forgotten my shoes...

Then I wake up. This is exactly the dream I had before I ran the Athens Marathon on Sunday. I woke up giggling and told Ryan all about it dispite it's ridiculousness.

Here is my other dream, and how it played out - this time in real life. At some point in my life, I don't remember when, I decided it would be neat to one day, before I die, run a marathon. Then one day, three years ago, I was in Marathon, Greece with my boys and hubby, and I thought, why not do the original route? My next thought was to call my mom, who had instilled in me my running habit at a young age and had always also talked about running a marathon one day. I knew that her feet had sidelined her a bit but thought I would dream big. Why not run the marathon with her? Then we can both accomplish this huge goal together. The dream got bigger. We somehow were able to talk my younger sister into joining us on our journey. All three of us, living in different parts of the country, all planning to fly to Greece to run 26.2 miles.

Then to make the dream a reality - two years of side jobs, pinching pennies to put into our travel jar, paying for one bit of the trip at a time. Finding generous friends and family to take care of our boys while we were away. Oh, and of course the running. Lots and lots of it!

Finally, my mom, sis and I were at the Runners Expo getting our awesome Adidas running shirts for the race and our bib numbers. We spent the day before touring the city and then ate a pre-race meal of pita and tzatziki. Our feet were sore, we were tired, but we were one step away from our goal!

On race day, the weather was low 40s and unseasonably cold for Athens. We took a bus to Marathon, where we spent 2 1/2 hours shivering, teeth chattering, waiting for our race to begin. I may have used up a bit of energy just freezing and waiting, with no where to get warm, no where to sit down. Cold winds and icy rain falling on us. I wore tights with a running skirt, short sleeved shirt, long sleeved shirt, a beanie hat and some hand/arm warmers I had fashioned out of a pair of striped socks I bought at the 99 cent store. I was still cold!

The race itself felt long - the hills started at about 5K, with winds at least 40 mph. Some of the wind was at our back until we hit the 24K mark, and then they started blowing against us and to the side. The wind and the cold were tough. At 20 miles the course began to go downhill which was when the running got hard for me. My stomach was nausious from GU and hunger pains and my back wasnt happy with the downhill pounding it was getting. I feel like I walked a lot that last bit.

At 27 K my hubby and step dad were there, cheering me on. Then at the end, I turned the corner into the Ancient Olympic Stadium, hit the straight-away and saw the hubby smiling and waving me on. I ran to the finish, like so many dreamers before me, and crossed through to the other side.

PR

All three of us are in Greece now! It was a long trip to get here - more than 24 hours of travelling in all but so fun when my mom and I met up in Holland and then met my little sis in the Athens airport!

It is now 2 am in the morning and I have terrible jetlag still after two days here. Somehow I am able to stay awake all day but it isnt helping me sleep at night. I need to officially wake up in 3 hours to get ready to head out to Marathon on the free bus shuttle from Athens.

It has been a fun trip so far filled with lots of good Greek food and culture. My mom, sister and I were talking today about the race though, and how this particular race will most likely not provide us with finish times worth bragging about.

First of all, my little sis is in a different start "block" than my mom and me. That means that she has to start 4-8 minutes up from us, cross the start line with her timing chip (due to the rules of this marathon), and then walk really really slowly until my mom catches up with her - therefore my awesome little sis who is sticking with my mom the entire way, will actually have a slower time than my mom by 4-8 minutes.

Also, the wind here is brutal - we actually almost got knocked off our feet a couple times on top of the Acropolis (I know, you feel so sorry for us, right?) :) It is super strong, gusty and wintery winds - our hope is that they will blow us UP those big hills, but we won't know until we start.

We chose one of the hilliest Marathons in the world. Not an ego booster time from that either.

Something that we did yesterday that you are really not supposed to do, is we toured and walked all over Athens all day until our feet were sore. This is our own fault and please if you want a PR do not follow in our footsteps!

The jetlag thing might not help either, but after writing this blog entry hopefully I will have bored myself back to sleep and all will be well again...

My mom had a great point last night as we were all just sort of hanging out and laughing together. We have not exactly set ourselves up for the fastest marathon times ever here. But since this is each of our alpha marathon (and for my mother, also her omega, according to her...), then each of us, regardless of time, will later today accomplish a Marathon PR for ourselves. And hey, as my hubby says, we will beat out at least 6 billion people in the world by just receiving a marathon time at all. That has to count for something, right? :)

9 days, phew!

One funny thing that can happen when you register for an event (or book a hotel, or rent a car..) from another country is that sometimes the over-communication that we are used to in USA, doesn't happen. In the Middle East and in Eastern Europe especially we have found that we don't always get the confirmation emails that we would prefer to get. It isn't a criticism, just an observation of cultural difference.

Last March, when I registered for the Athens Classic Marathon, I didn't get a confirmation email. My husband reassured me that a bill appeared on our bank statement, but I always had a nagging doubt in the back of my mind. A part of me believed I would get to Athens, go to the Expo, stand in line at the registration table, get to the front, and find out I am not actually registered. Then I would have to sit on my butt with a $3000 dollar marathon left un-run.

So imagine my relief when I received an email from the Marathon organizers earlier this week soliciting money for charity. I texted my mom and sister a very loud "PHEW!" (if texts can be loud, that is).

This week we are still in the taper and only 9 days away from our race. I have run three 1-hour runs this week and have one more to do - next week is even slower. I am focusing on hydrating, staying healthy, injury free and also spending time with my kiddos. I am usually thrilled to get time away from my boys, but the 10 days away from them is making me anxious and a little melancholy.

My mom seems to have her packing list well underway, and I have taken a step back in that department as my main focus has been preparing the house and the kids for our 10-day absence. I did send a care package to my mom and sis this week and finished the "gift" that we are exchanging at our celebratory, "we-finished-a-marathon-alive" dinner on Monday the 14th.

Tomorrow I am going in for a sports massage and then this weekend is cleaning and packing and a little running! The taper really baffles me I admit. It seems like not running is a bad idea...but if my Runner's World training schedule tells me not to run, then who am I to question?

Long Road to Marathon

I don't remember reading anywhere that a Marathon is really, really long. Okay, I am sure I did read something like that somewhere, but I think my brain didn't want to register it so that I would start the journey.

Here is what I mean. The thought of finishing a 26.2 mile run sounds so great. It is an amazing accomplishment, worthy of the bucket list, all bragging rights and back-patting. We make it our goal, looking forward to the end and the great feeling you will have when it is all done. But somehow the reality of training doesn't register - not completely, anyway.

I remember my first half marathon, where the last 2 miles was very difficult for me. I refused to walk, but therefore dragged my feet in a little shuffle-run, while the speed walkers passed me by. I finished at a jog and then promised myself I would NEVER run 13.1 miles again because it is just plain stupid. At the time, my protective (or in-denial) brain forgot to remind me that if I was going to run a marathon one day, I would indeed have to run 13.1 miles again. In fact many, many times.

I calculated the number of miles my training schedule has me running in the 16-week plan. A total of approximately 489 miles, give or take. To get to the starting line at the Athens Marathon, I first need to RUN nearly 500 miles. That is even farther than Phidippides, the first ever marathon runner. He ran 100 miles to Marathon and then ran 25 plus miles from there to Athens to announce victory against the Persians, and then he died.

Granted he probably didn't spread that first 100 miles out over several weeks, and he may have not properly hydrated or had a sufficient number of Gu's in his little runner's fanny pack. But I can't pretend I am not a bit worried, because 500 miles is a long road to Marathon, Greece. And that doesn't even include that last little bit, the 26.2 mile finish!

For those of you contemplating a marathon, be warned. You will have to run a lot to prepare for the race. The 26 miles will start to feel like a small blip on the radar when you consider the number of miles you will run to get there. The accomplishment is in the journey to the start-line, the finish is really just where you get to pick up your finisher's medal. Yesterday I ran 18 miles in a little more than 3 hours. I spent 3 hours of my life running around my town and there were no water stations, no cheering bystanders, no beer garden and free goodie bags waiting at the end. It was just my house, dinner waiting to be made, kids to be picked up at school, errands to run. There is so little fanfare for those first 500 miles, it just seems wrong. 18 miles is HUGE.

I counted up and I now have 169 miles left to go of my 500. And less than 5 weeks to run them (in fact most of it happens in the next three weeks!). I have always been a destination gal more than a journey gal. I don't stop and smell the roses, I just want to get to where I am going and say "been there, done that." But in training for this Marathon I am gaining appreciation for the journey, mostly because it is not a quick one. Not a short one. Yes, I am excited to cross the finish line and get my finishers medal and free bagel. I will most likely immediately pull out my to-do list for the day and make a big point of crossing "Marathon" off the list. But I think on November 13, 2011, it will be the journey that I will be most proud of. I am not there yet, however, and still have to get moving on my 169...wish me luck!

Poor Man's Massage

My marathon training schedule has me running three days, day off, two days, day off. The three days are not too bad - this week was 8 miles, 3 miles with sprints and then 9.2 miles. Each run is fine, but somehow you add them all up and I am SORE by that rest day! After the rest I get to run 5 miles easy and then my long run. Tomorrow is my long run which will hopefully be 17 miles.

The last few weeks I have been super sore in my upper shoulders and neck and a friend suggested I go get deep tissue massage - unfortunately there is no money in my running fund for massage as it all just went to new shoes. And by the way, the older you get, the more important it is to get new shoes often to help prevent injury and soreness.

So in case you are a runner and you are sore and you don't have money for deep tissue massage, here is what I did last night.

First, I used a golf ball in a sock and rolled the bottom of my foot down on it to give the bottom of my foot a nice deep massage.

Next, I used a tennis ball in a sock (a bigger sock) and put it on the wall behind my back and shoulders, and sort of rolled it around my back while pushing on the wall - does that make sense? I did realize at one point that I was in my room with the light on and the window open so the neighbors might see and think I was pretending to be a bear scratching my back on a tree. Because that is what you look like. But my shoulders got a great massage from that!

Lastly, I used a stick to roll the muscles in my calves and quads. Admittedly, I have a fancy "runner stick" now to roll those muscles - a birthday gift/hand me down from a friend. But before I had the fancy stick, I had a plain ol rolling pin which wasnt the best but did just fine.

After the massage I put ice on my shoulders and my hubby said I looked like a linebacker and wondered if I could possibly be comfortable but I felt deep massage sore and not plain old sore which felt great!

I think we are about 7 weeks out now. Things are getting serious and I hope I live to tell you about the long run tomorrow. Thanks for stopping in!

Sweet 16 and Lessons Learned

Well, my oh so sweet hubby changed his work schedule for me (went in at 9 am) so that I could get a long run in this week. Yay! The bad news, is that when, at mile 8, I was completely done running for the day, I felt guilty quitting when he so kindly stayed home so I could run.. Darn.

16 is a big number for me. In fact, when I turned 16 years old, my mom played "16 candles" on the cassette player (for those readers under the age of 20, just Google cassette player and if necessary also Google "16 candles"). She also had no lighter for my birthday candle so instead set a piece of paper on fire at the stove, almost burning down the house. Hmm, I think that was also the year she gave me a TV for my birthday, when I wanted a pair of shoes. I was not a gracious 16 year old, and did not receive the gift well. Turns out she didnt have any money for a gift but could get a credit card to an electronics store, hence the TV. As an adult I have had to grovel and seek forgiveness for that one...eek. Sometimes life's lessons require some time to be learned.

16 also happens to be the year I got my first boyfriend, took my SAT's, did NOT take my driving test and continued to mooch rides off my friends, and 16 is also the number of times I said "This really stinks..." while I ran this morning's run.

Well that last part might not be true. I think I said it more like 100 times.

I took off at 5:45 am and took the dog. Lesson #1. My dog has control issues and likes to exert his control over the situation by pooping on the sidewalk while I am running. This forces me to stop, spew out some unpleasant words*** his way, and clean up after him while he gets to rest and pee on the lamposts. (***FYI I do not swear, so when I talk about "swearing" just think phrases like phooey poo head dingo, dagnabbit, holy camoley, and "this really stinks...")

I had to go pee by 6:00 am. Really bad. Lesson #2. The public bathrooms in the park are still locked at 6:00 am.

I was trying out a new "butt water thingee" which I think is the name given by the author of a book my mom got me. Lesson #3. Do not buy the cheap-o "butt water thingees" from mega stores. They shift around and the water bottle hits you on the elbow. The water bottle sloshes around reminding you for 8 miles how bad you have to pee. They make you look like a complete dork. (okay well I dont think there is an option of NOT looking like a complete dork once you start getting into higher mileage...you have to run with a day's supply of food and water attached to your body somehow..you wear those breatheable and not stylish running hats, and you have embarrassing sweat spots in weird places...).

I was running up the hardest and longest hills I could find in the area, because I am now officially intimidated by the thought of those big fat Greek hills. Lesson #4. Ouchie Mama. Oh and running down hill didn't help my wobbly legs too much either. Guess that was Lesson #5?

The good news is that I finished the 16 miles in one piece, a little sore and a little sleepy. I was good and had a smoothie to finish the run. I had to walk part of the last 1.5 miles, so will probably try again with no walking. I don't have a goal to run the entire Athens Marathon since I dont know what those hills will do to me but I figure I will train to run if I can.

Kudos to my sis Naomi who ran her first half marathon this weekend to prepare for the Marathon! And to my mom who had a super long run over the weekend too. Mom got a Google account so you should be hearing from her soon!

Now it's time for a nap. All three of my boys are at a playdate at my saint of a friends so that I can sneak in a snooze. Yay!