The Next Big Step

Hello out there! I figured it was about time I stopped lurking behind the shadows of the blogging world and reveal another post. I've not updated this blog in a while, mostly because I haven't been doing any real running. I've just been longing to go for runs and cursing my busy schedule for not providing me with the time I once had for exercising. But who wants to read a bunch of complaining, anyway?

Another obstacle to overcome is not knowing where we're going after I finished up here in Virginia Beach. So I've been in a holding pattern as far as races and training is concerned.

But not anymore! I finally received my orders to my first band. I can finally start race planning again! So, behold, my next BIG race.......

Chicago '14!

That's right, we're headed to Chicago! Well, Great Lakes to be exact, which is about 40 minutes north of Chicago. In about 4 weeks we'll be packing up the cars and the dogs and setting sail back to the Windy City.

I'm definitely excited about the move, the new area, my new command, and all the great opportunities that await us in Illinois. Sure, it happens to be where bootcamp is and I'll be playing lots of bootcamp graduations... but I've heard great things about the area and the running community.

I'm not terribly jazzed about the winters. While I was there for bootcamp (December and January) there were multiple days that never got above 0 degrees. But they say your situation is what you make of it, so I'll try to make the best of winter.

So that's about all I've got for now. I hope to start updating more regularly after I finish my crazy training schedule and get out of A-school, as well as catch up on all your great blogs out there. Who knows, maybe I'll even dust off the old twitter account too.

If you have any Chicago/Illinois/Wisconsin race suggestions- throw them my way!!!

Shamrock Half Marathon

Today I ran my 10th half marathon! It wasn't fast, but I loved it. I wasn't trained, but it felt great. 

Words cannot begin to describe how 'undertrained' I was for this race. I ran the Thunder Road marathon on November 17. That was 4 months ago. Up until last Sunday, that was the last time I ran anything more than 6 miles. Sure, we ran in bootcamp, but never for more than 30 minutes. Since arriving to VA Beach about 6 weeks ago, I've been running long(ish) about once a week. It's been a long, uphill journey getting back into the running shape I was in before, so I had no idea what to expect for today.

I had David drop me off about 45 minutes before guntime near the start since the website said they sold 10,000 race entries for the half. I made my usual port-a-potty pitstop and then made my way to the corrals. The temps were in the low 40s this morning, but it was super, super windy (der... I should have figured that one out since we were right on the beach). I was freezing! In hindsight, I should have arrived about 30 minutes later!

As my corral inched closer to the start, I started chatting with the runners around me. Since there's a million military bases in the area, there were a lot of people that we military (or prior military). Unlike when I did the Jacksonville Marine Corps half, I could actually call myself military as well =)

The course is a very straightforward out and back. The first 4 ish miles took us through the beach-y streets of VA Beach before heading through a state park area.

Then we took a turn into Fort Story and ran through the Army base (the base I'm stationed at is Little Creek, which is right next door to Fort Story- they're actually joint bases). The road we ran down in Fort Story had us running right next to the beach and it was WINDY!

Pretty soon, we shot out of the base and were back on the main drag to the finish line. The crowds picked up, and so did my pace. I had been taking Gatorade in at each aid station as well as the Bloks I had stuck in my pocket. Just as my stomach was starting to growl, I was offered a delicious Oreo cookie. For the last 4 miles, there seemed to be a "beer station" right after each aid station. So I figured- what the heck? I wasn't going for time (I even.... GASP.... took a mid-race port-a-potty stop!) so why not partake in the St. Patrick's day theme of drinking?

Of course, I couldn't take beer from just one beer-station and not all the rest, lest the good people of VA Beach think I was beer-biased, so I had to accept a beer cup from every table I passed.

Oddly enough, the last 4 miles happened to be my fastest. Coincidence? I think not.

My trusty .9 miles to .1 mile of running/walking saved the day, and I never felt tired or that my legs couldn't go on. I even felt like I had more to give toward the end (maybe that was the beer?) so gave it my all for the last three miles.

The finish line took us down a board walk right next to the beach with TONS of people cheering us on.

In addition to the finisher's medal, we were given a dry-wick hat and flannel-like blanket (WAY better than a space blanket!). The dogs have already claimed the black finisher's blanket, but I definitely foresee using the hat in the near future.

I called David around mile 9 (seriously, I took this thing very leisurely), so he was waiting right when i finished to come whisk me away in a nice, heated car. Good thing too, because I'm pretty sure it got COLDER over the course of 2 hours.

My legs are feeling pretty shot and I'm sure I'll be a little stiff tomorrow, but overall I felt really, really great today. Sure, my time is a little slower than my pre-bootcamp life (2:19, which includes a 7 minute port-a-potty stop), but I proved to myself that I still had it in me. I think this race was the mental boost I needed right now.

I don't think I'll be signing up for another half before I graduate from A School, but I'm definitely going get training for something when I get to my next duty station! And who knows, maybe we'll get sent to Norfolk and I'll do the full marathon next year? ;) Ooooooor maybe we'll get sent to Hawaii and I could do the marathon there?!


Run any races lately? Tell me about them! 

Long time no blog

Howdy friends!

Whew... what a crazy few weeks it's been! I should bring you all up to speed as to the goings-on in my Navy life now, huh?

After graduating bootcamp on February 1st, I flew to VA Beach on the 2nd for A School (kind of like Navy college). About 3 days after I got to VA Beach, I learned that instead of being in A school for 3 months like I had been led to believe, I would most likely be here for six months. Because I'm stationed here for so long, big Navy would pay to move David, and all of our stuff, up here to VA.

Miraculously, we were able to find a place to live and sign the lease both in the same weekend. A little over three weeks after I arrived here, David arrived and for the first time in nearly three months were were able to live with each other again. On a side note- it was so hard to be apart and it was only for three months. I can't imagine how difficult it is for those who are deployed for 9-12 months at a time!

Life has been BUSY. A twelve hour day is the norm for me, with many days being even longer. I struggle to keep up with cooking, cleaning, and sleeping... and I cannot even begin to imagine where I would find time to run. Before I left for bootcamp, I was all about mile splits and protein smoothies and which race I would run next. Now I worry about shining boots, when my next watch standing is, and if that intimidating looking Marine walking toward me is a Staff Sergeant or a Gunnery Sergeant (not to worry, Marines have no problem correcting you if you're wrong).

It's not that I don't want to run mile repeats or do races to get awesome finisher's medals or drink smoothies that have spinach in them... it's just not who I am anymore. Does that make any sense? Before joining the Navy, my identity was being a runner and being that health nut that ate weird food and said it tasted good. Living healthy was more than just what I did, I felt like it defined me. Possibly more than it should have.

Now, my priority is being a flutist in the US Navy. I am a Sailor, first and foremost. I don't have a 9 to 5 job that I go to Monday through Friday; I'm always on duty (like, all the time. I've had watch in the middle of the night on a Saturday or early Sunday morning).

I'm still transitioning into this military lifestyle, but I've decided I still want running to be part of my life. I won't be signing up for a marathon any time soon, but I can at least get a long run in on the weekend, and maybe a 10k race here and there.

Running isn't who I am, but rather what I do.

Now... I have a point to this post. I swear. So life has been crazy busy lately and unfortunately, the half marathon David signed up for 4 months ago is a no go for him. There are a LOT of things for a military spouse to do (pretty much everything from pay the bills to changing addresses to coordinating the move) and while he's been doing a phenomenal job at everything, he hasn't been able to train for the half. Instead of lose the registration fee, who better to take his place than his own wife?!?!?

Yep, I get to run a half marathon one week from TODAY! Because I've done no training for the past few months, I have absolutely zero expectations other than to enjoy myself. But just to make sure I'd be able to finish the distance next Sunday, I decided to get a "long run" in today. I ran 10 miles and it.was.amazing.

We live a mere stone's throw away from a park with nearly 20 miles of dirt trails and I had a date with those trails this afternoon. This run was exactly what I needed to remind me how much I love running and how much I've missed it. My legs were pretty tired by the end and I took plenty of walk breaks, and my pace was nothing compared to my pre-bootcamp glory days, but you know what? I don't care one bit!

David met me at the end and we finished up the run on the beach with the boys. Because, oh yeah, we live two blocks from the beach as well =)

So there you have it, my great return back to running. I've lost some endurance and a decent bit of speed, but the heart is still there. And really, what else do you need to have a good run?

PT, IT, and my first run back

I bet everyone is just dying to hear what the physical fitness training was like while at bootcamp, right? It was about how I expected it to be. Except for a handful of people, most of my division did not enter bootcamp in a way that they could pass their final PFA (physical fitness assessment). FYI, that's just a nice way of me saying- most of us were WAY out of shape.

As a group, we PTed every training day (Monday-Friday). We alternated running days with in-house PT. In-house PT was basically body weight exercises, i.e. jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, etc. Since Navy RTC is in Great Lakes, IL, and it was butt-freaking COLD (the wind chill on multiple days was -20!) we were forced to do all our running inside on a 1/8 mile track. For some reason, we always did our running one hour after dinner time.... which suuuuuuucked! That and our warm-ups were around an 8:30 pace (I'm guessing). From there, it just got faster. I ran through many stomach cramps and convinced my dinner to stay down multiple times.

In general, I had no problem with the PT. It got difficult toward the end because I was working off an average of 4.5 hours of sleep per night and my body was starting to wear down from the lack of nutrition (galley food... I'll save that for another post). I was still able to easily pass the final PFA though, and then keep running alongside my shipmates to help them pass as well.

Oh and I forgot to mention the dreaded IT. "IT" stands for intensive training, which is another way of saying "stand-by to make it rain." If you still don't get what I'm saying, I'll break it down: IT is for when a person did something bad/stupid/wrong/disrespectful and had to do various forms of exercises until they started dripping with sweat. The most common times for our division to have IT was first thing in the morning (usually around 5:30 or 6:00) or right before we went to bed (and no, we didn't get to shower again!).

So this all leads me to today: my first personal run since before bootcamp! It...was...glorious. I ran around base and got to see some Navy ships, which was pretty cool, but mostly I was able to experience that peace-of-mind feeling only runners can understand.

And yes, I was that tourist taking pictures of the boats and ships. You're welcome.

Surprisingly, my pace was pretty quick (I guess all that sprinting to keep up at bootcamp paid off), but unsurprisingly, my endurance is shot. I ran just shy of 4 miles and thought I might puke at the end. But hey- it's all good =)

We have group PT three days per week, and then the rest is on our own. I have some fellow sailors that also run, but I think I'll get my groove back before I embarrass myself running with them. I was also talking with some fellow Marine music students (Navy School of Music trains with Marines and Army) who are doing the Shamrock marathon. I have to say, it's nice to be around physically active people and get paid to work out!

And yes, I've thought about registering for the Shamrock marathon on March 17th...

I'm Back!!!

Hi friends!! I'm finally back from Navy RTC! I graduated on Friday, flew to VA Beach on Saturday, and started training today. Things are crazy hectic for me right now, but I wanted to stop by and say hello.

Since there's no possible way to catch up on everyone's blogs over the past 9+ weeks, please tell me what's been going on with you!! Running accomplishments, personal life stuff (you know, engagements, babies, that sort of thing) and whatever else you can brag about!!! =)

I have no clue what direction my running will be going at the moment since I feel like I lost most of my conditioning at boot camp. In all honesty, I feel like a 5k would be challenging at the moment! I'll figure it out and report back.

I'm looking forward to getting back in the blogging-running community!!

-Danielle

David at PIR (aka- Graduation)

Playing a piccolo solo at PIR... right in front of the officers deck!

Saying Goodbye

It hardly feels like it's been 9 months since I took my Navy audition, or 6 months since I was officially offered a spot in the Navy music program. Or that 5 months ago I signed a contract for a ship out date of 03DEC.

I leave Sunday afternoon for basic training - yes THIS SUNDAY as in three days from now! I've waited for so long for this day to come that I can hardly believe it's finally here. Sunday evening I'll be staying in a hotel and then super early Monday morning be swearing in. Then it's off to Great Lakes to get yelled at and do push ups for 8-9 weeks.

To say I'm nervous would be an understatement. I know I won't have a problem with the physical aspect of RTC, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to pass all the written tests. But the thing I'm most worried about is, well, the unknown. I'm the first in my family to go into the military and I have no idea what to expect. How much yelling will there really be? Will I get enough sleep? Will there be enough food options for a vegetarian? But I guess 2 months from now, I'll be an expert!

So to all my awesome readers out there- please don't leave me for not posting for 2 months. And for all my potentially new readers- please come back in two months! I promise to say hi when I'm on the "other side."

I have no idea what's in store for my running, but I know I'm going to keep at it. As soon as I get my orders, I'm planning to register for another marathon!

And because I won't be around, Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Happy Holidays and all that jazz.

See you in two months!!!!

Thunder Road Marathon Race Recap

On Saturday, I completed my fourth marathon- Charlotte’s very own Thunder Road. When I moved to Charlotte three years ago, I decided to train for the half marathon, my first half, and successfully finished the 13.1 mile course in 2010. As my time in Charlotte (and as a civilian) comes to a close, I thought it only fitting that I finish this chapter of running with the same challenging race that began it. But this time I was going all the way- the challenging hills of Thunder Road were calling my name, and I was prepared to answer the call!

As Charlotte’s only marathon, Thunder Road draws in quite the crowd. With over 2500 runners in the half and nearly 1000 in the full, company was never at a minimum. 

In years past, the race expo and packet pick up has always been held in the Convention Center. With the ample space and tons of parking, this seemed like the perfect place. But this year, for some reason, packet pick up was held in a near-by downtown hotel. In addition to a rather lack-luster energy surrounding the expo (I’m not a fan of hotel ballrooms), runners were slammed with an unexpected parking fee to even run into the hotel, grab their race bib, and leave. Not cool, Blake Hotel, not cool.

We arrived race morning with about 30 minutes to spare before guntime, finding an empty (and free! Suck on that, Blake Hotel!) parking lot about 2 blocks from the finish. Lucky for us, the Convention Center was open for runners to take shelter from the blistering 29 degrees (oh yeah, there was plenty of wind too). After a quick and painless bathroom stop, we made our way to the start line- me, my dad, and David.

Yep- David ran his first half marathon on Saturday!!! He did phenomenally, scoring a 2:24 on the challenging hills of Thunder Road (he’s been secretly training for the past 3 months and made me swear I wouldn’t tell anyone… and it’s been killing me!).

Though there were no corrals or waves, everyone filed in near their expected finish time pace groups. The large group of people offered some relief from the cold wind that would later become my worst enemy. 

Right at 7:45 sharp, the racecar revved it’s engine to signal the start of the race and we were off!! We snaked through the streets of downtown Charlotte before making our way around surrounding neighborhoods and businesses. Despite the cold weather, people were out in hoards to cheer us on, making us feel like rockstars. As we ran by stopped traffic, a school bus full of high schoolers were hanging out the windows, cheering us on and offering high fives. 

I lost sight of my dad pretty quickly- he tends to go out fast and I knew better than to try and keep up (it would take me 17 miles to catch up to him). About 2 miles into the race, I came upon David. We ran and talked for a few minutes before he waved me on. I tried my best to enjoy the atmosphere, city, and energy while sipping my Perpetuem-Gatorade concoction and sticking to my conservative run-walk strategy. 

The first 13 miles went by pretty uneventfully. I recognized the course and could easily remember it from two years prior. Rolling hills and beautiful homes- that pretty much describes the first half. 

I’ve got to give a huge shout out to the volunteers and police force that came out for the race- they were incredible. Aid station workers met our needs, got us whatever we needed, they even filled my water bottle twice (I held the bottle out and the next thing I knew, volunteers were pouring cups of water into it, filling it up in about 3 seconds flat!). The police cheered us on too, some with whistles and hand clappers, others by shouts of encouragement or clapping. I don’t know how they do it, but Thunder Road always seems to find some class act people to volunteer.

At mile 11 (?) came the big split- last time I turned right and had almost finished my journey. This year, I went straight and knew I had a long, long road ahead of me. Though the half marathoners offered a great deal of energy, it was nice to get rid of hype. I felt like I could settle down a little and enjoy the company of other people who were in in for the long haul (not that I don’t love all those halfers!).

I'll spare you the close up of my face... 

The second half of the course was just as challenging as the first, if not more so. The long, slow hills lived up to the course’s motto of “Flat is For Sissies.” This course is definitely not for sissies. But what was more challenging than the hills was the blistering cold wind. I have to hand it to the Race Director- it takes true talent to find 26.2 miles of complete headwind! It seemed like no matter the direction we went, we were running against the wind. On more than one occasion I wished I hadn’t thrown away my sweatshirt and that I was wearing running tights. Knowing a hot shower and warm blanket were in my future helped keep me moving.

At mile 16, we came so close to downtown it felt like the tall buildings were taunting me. I could hear the finish line celebration of the half marathoners and every fiber of my being wanted to run back through the city to finish rather than away from the city to continue on the marathon course.

Around mile 20, we ran through the area known as “NoDa,” or North Davidson. It’s the artsy-fartsy area of town, and MAN do they know how to party! Music, dancing, booze, and all around happiness met us in this neighborhood. It was much needed, too. 

By mile 24, I could see downtown and knew the finish line was tantalizingly close. After a few more twists and turns, and some uphill climbs, I finally crossed the finish line. A volunteer wrapped a space blanket around me, another volunteer put a medal around my neck, and I was being ushered through the chute. I was pretty out of it, so I’m grateful there was someone there to help me through. I collected my water and Gatorade and found a sunny spot to sit down. 

And like anyone who has just crossed the finish line of a marathon, I vowed I would never run another one ever again. Ever.

So after all my spouting on and on about how great the FIRST training plan has been for my running, you’re probably wondering how I did. 

I did not do well. 

The two weeks leading up to the marathon, I was fighting a cold and had a nasty cough (I went to an urgent care clinic later in the evening and found out I have bronchitis). I should have known the writing was on the wall, but I held out hope that I might still get away with a strong run. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Running usually helps to clear my lungs, but the cold, windy conditions only made things worse. Additionally, the Perpetuem that fueled my great 20 miler three weeks before made me sick to my stomach. 

By mile 10, I knew I wasn’t going to meet my A or B goals. By mile 15, the 4:30 pace group passed me and I realized that not only was my C goal out the window, but that it was going to be a fight to the end. By mile 17, I decided I was going to DNF. My lungs burned, I couldn’t breathe, and my stomach threatened to expel the entirety of its contents. 

What surprised me the most was that I was completely ok with quitting. And I’m NOT a quitter. Even when things got so bad at the Gainesville marathon, I never wanted to quit. But I didn’t have anything left in me at this point, and I was so, so cold. I started looking for the nearest volunteer or police officer to announce my decision. Tears streamed down my face. I don’t ever remember feeling as low as I did at that point.

As I was searching for a volunteer, I happened to see my dad a few blocks ahead of me. All of a sudden, my new goal was to catch up to him. I knew if I could get to him, he would help me finish. For the next mile, I worked on chasing him down. When I finally reached him, he confirmed that he was feeling just as awful as I. 

We gutted out the rest of the marathon together in a slow jog/walk. Once I figured out the Perpetuem was making me sick, I dumped it out and tried to sip on water, but I soon found I couldn’t stomach that either. For the last 8 miles, I drank nothing and prayed the dehydration wouldn’t hurt me too badly. I ran until the nausea became too great and then I walked. My body felt strong, my legs felt strong, my determination was strong- unfortunately my stomach just wasn’t there (and that whole not being able to breathe thing kind of got in the way).

I had a finish time of 4:54- a far cry from even my most conservative goal. But as the saying goes, sometimes even the best laid plans go to waste. I really thought this was going to be my day- I’ve followed my training plan to a T, I’ve grown stronger and run harder than I ever have before. I’m in the best shape of my life and I really thought I had a PR in the bag (a stupid thing to assume for a marathon).

Just leave me here to diiiiiieeeeeeeee

Am I disappointed? Absolutely. But I am not defeated. There was nothing I could have done differently to have a different outcome. I trained hard, but the wind and hills won. It took the rest of the day and part of the evening, but eventually my stomach started accepting fluids and solids again.

A little more recovered, with smiles on our faces (but still... never again!)

So for now, the marathon remains as elusive as it ever has been for me. I’ll run my 4:30 marathon some day, it just wasn’t in the cards this time around. I’m still proud of my finish time and of all the hard work I’ve done to get to where I am. No tears from me!!

"Always earned, never given."