DAY 88: The culmination of all our efforts...

Yes, it's MARATHON DAY!!!

Kendra, Ben, Jenna, & I all finished the marathon and were proud to have accomplished such a feat as to have run 26.2 miles!

The times...
Jenna  4:31:38
Ben  4:48:43
Athena  4:55:10
Kendra  4:55:11

To check out all the complete results, go to http://sites.google.com/site/bobpottsmarathon/home and click on "2011 Marathon Results".  We appear in some pictures, also, so be sure to find us!!

Encouraging quote from my runner friend, Justin:  "I hope you appreciate the greatness of what you have achieved.  It's something that not a lot of people can achieve.  Even those that set out to train for 26.2 end up giving up because of the difficulty.  Hopefully you stick with this running deal and continue to enjoy it."

Car ride to the marathon's start!

Las chicas before the race...

Running buddies!

At the start!

Running now (and for the next like 5 hours!)

Jenna, Kendra, & I after the marathon

With our finisher's medals!!

 And now for the video...

WE FINISHED!!!!


WE ARE ALIVE!!!


More details on the marathon to come... thanks to all who came out to support us today--dads, brothers, grandpas, friends, coworkers... the support was awesome!  Thanks also to those who prayed for us, we needed that greatly too, and that for sure got us through the marathon!  You guys are the best!

FREAKING OUT!!!!!!!!!

Kendra, Ben, & I are staying up WAY TOO LATE after eating WAY TOO MANY CARBS... we're freaking out a ton about this marathon!!!

Jenna is in bed sleeping like a good marathon runner should be.  Ben is researching Oprah's marathon time so he can try to beat it.  Kendra is catching up on the blog.  And I'm concerned about the weather for tomorrow's big race - ahh!!

Okay, it's bedtime... Hope to see a bunch of you along the way or at the finish line!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Preparing our meal full of carbs...

EATING!!!

Day 87: Trestle Adventure!!!

"Let's all pick flowers" and Jenna picks roots & all!

After our exploration run!

Day 86: Back to Two

According to the marathon training book, the week before the big race is to be spent resting.  That's right, not a run.  We are slightly afraid, however, that our legs will forget how to move, so we planned to run once or twice this week, but only two miles at the most.  Tonight, Ben and I took one last run from the track headed to grandma's house.  It was bitter-sweet.  Sweet in the fact that we got to turn around way before grandma's house, and bitter that we even had to run at all, haha.  No, it was a rather pleasant run.  I think I almost enjoy running 2 miles now.  

Posted by Kendra 

Day 85: Countdown = 1 Week!!!

Athena's Five Miles:

Kendra's Five Miles:


Since Athena took a new companion running with her on this last 5-miler, I thought, "Hey!  I will too!"  So I took a new friend of mine, Sarah.  I met her last fall, never knowing that she was a runner.  Of course, at that time, I was not a runner (am I yet?) and so would never have thought to ask her about her running experience.  So at this second meeting, I find out that Sarah has run a marathon in the past!  Upon that discovery, I promptly began picking her brain about preparing for the race.  I was excited when she said she wanted to run with me this weekend and I anxious for more time to ask last minute questions on marathon training...


We ran for about 48 minutes, without a mapped-out route.  It was the middle of the afternoon and quite warm.  We covered several topics on that run and thoroughly enjoyed the time together and the new scenery, despite the fact that we were running.  Oh well.  Thanks, Sarah, for a fun"long" run!

Day 84: Our Last 3 Miler!

With the approaching of our marathon, this evening we were down to one of our last runs, which also happened to be our very last 3 miler before the marathon.  Kendra, Ben, & I met at Kendra's Grandma's house, ran to the school, and then ran back - our typical 3 mile route.

Zeus joined us again, and when he pooped a HUGE poop just past the half mile mark, I handed the dog off to Ben (for some reason Ben preferred running with the dog over carrying the big bag of warm & mushy poop... hmm!).

Ben & Zeus took the lead with Kendra & I close behind.  We have no clue what our time was because Ben forgot his watch or left it in his truck or something... haha!

Day 83: A good distraction...

Today's run involved just Kendra & I... and Zeus again!  When I was leaving the house to go running, he looked at me with those sad puppy eyes, so I decided to bring him along.  He was EXTREMELY excited, so obviously he didn't mind the last 3 miler too much!

We started at Kendra's grandma's house and did our typical 3 mile route.  I had the dog for the first 2.5 miles approximately, but when I ended up having to carry a bag full of poop, Kendra took over with Zeus.  She decided (and I agreed) that running with Zeus is a good distraction from the run itself, simply because - especially with wild Zeus - you really have to focus on where he's going and on controlling him so you don't trip over him, as well as encourage him to keep running if he gets tired.  It makes the run seemingly go faster.

Well, without a watch and with a break to clean up dog poop, we can't really say how long it took us to run the 3 miles... eh, oh well!  :)

Kendra, Zeus, & I after our run!

Day 82: Walking the Dog

Tonight our newest running buddy joined us: the Zeusinator!  (Otherwise known as Zeus, Zeusy or Zeus Marie Gibble)  Athena's dog has never run with us before, but did quite well on our 3 mile jog tonight!  On the first half mile he was rather fascinated with anything along the sidewalk, but as his energy waned, he became a little more like the relaxed running companion Athena always hoped he'd be.  : )  Toward the end of mile two, he was really starting to drag, so the Alpha Male of the pack (Ben's self-appointed title) took the lead.  Zeus definitely seemed to get more energy while chasing something, instead of leading, haha.  Personally, I think poor Zeus just couldn't stand looking at Ben's combination of bright orange knee-socks with fluorescent green sneakers...


Athena, Ben, Zeus and I finished the run in 28 minutes.


Posted by Kendra

Day 81: Two weeks and counting!!!

Yes, it's true... the marathon is almost upon us, so our training schedule is giving us a "cool down" of sorts.  Check out our second to last training video!!

Day 80: Lazy Daisy

I honestly have no clue how Kendra & I have stuck to this running thing so long.  I mean, besides the fact that we're forced to spend more time hanging out when we run together (hehe!), we really don't enjoy running that much at all.  The only thing we maybe sorta like is the sense of accomplishment when we finish those big long runs or when we run a short distance kind-of quickly.

Our running buddy, Ben, tends to think his positive influence has helped us stay focused on the goal, sticking to our running regime, and only after last night do I actually believe him...

Kendra & I knew last night would be a late running night, but we planned to start our 5 miles through the streets of town at 9:30pm regardless - afterall, we were running out of time to go for our 2nd and 3rd short runs of the week!  Well, when Kendra & I arrived at our starting place and found out neither Ben nor Jenna would be joining us, we somehow went from a 5 miler to a 2 miler to a no miler!!

Yup, that's right - last night we skipped a run!  We sort-of felt guilty for not running, but our knees are still achy from our two consecutive long runs.  Plus, we decided that after a busy week, a little extra sleep would be much better for our bodies!

So this evening we knew we had to run - no excuses or laziness (and, by the way, I don't actually believe we're lazy, it's just that sometimes it's really hard to find the motivation to run... haha!).

Kendra & I ran the 5 mile route around the developments by my house and completed it in 49:50.  We were pleased with the run, but most importantly we regained our confidence in our motivation to run.  With the marathon just a few short weeks away, we cannot afford to skip any more runs!

Day 79: Sweaty Muellers

We are always a little tentative setting out for the short run following a long, weekend run.  Athena's and my knee joints were especially not looking forward to tonight's 4 miles.  This is the first time my patella has acted up ever since we started training, which is a bit disturbing to me.  Athena's knees have given her problems since the beginning, and Ben's also developed major issues following the 18 mile run.  I've sympathized with them (my hips causing the pain), but have never actually experienced that particular discomfort before. Great.  


Ben was kind enough to share his new Mueller knee strap with me for this run as his knee was feeling quite good tonight.  Athena also wore her new Mueller strap on her right knee AND an entire knee brace on the left leg!  Apparently our bodies still reject the notion of us running over 20 miles at a time....


It was quite a warm night for a run and the second most noticeable feature of this run (besides knee problems) was the amount of sweat we pumped out our pores!  Kinda nasty, but I felt like a new person, having all that liquid leave my body in under 40 minutes.  : )  The poor Muellers...they were rather moist after our jaunt to the track and back.  It feels like summer is approaching already...


Posted by Kendra 

Day 78: Last Long Run

This was OUR LAST LONG RUN!!!  And, I'll have you know that I had to edit 15 minutes of video footage to get this clip down to less than 8 minutes... apparently, as we run longer times, we have more to talk about!!  We will be writing about the last 3 weeks of training before the marathon, so keep following our blog to see how we do in our 26.2!

Day 77: Development of the Cul-de-Sacs

This evening was another 5 miler, and I do believe they seem to be getting easier... It also helps that Athena has now tried to cut down on hills (see Blymire run two Wednesdays ago).  This evening she and I took a little running tour of the developments and cul-de-sacs surrounding her house.  It was light out (6:30pm), sunny, and well, just a beautiful night for a run.  There were a couple hills involved, but most were short and not too terribly steep (I believe I have been harassing her enough that she's finally catching on to my flat-route-agenda, haha).  It was fun to run a new course, look at the huge doctors' houses that we can only dream of owning one day, and do all of this in the daylight!  Overall, a good run.  Nice work, Athena!

Time: 50 minutes, 49 seconds.  (The extra 49 seconds are attributed to a political campaign that stopped us when we were but half a mile from our final destination--A HALF A MILE!-- Apparently John Hartman, folks, is running for school board.  Vote your hearts out!  There.  I've done my duty.) 

Posted by Kendra 

Day 76: Estimate...

Well, tonight Kendra, Ben, & I met for a 9pm run around Dallastown.  We actually didn't map it out, but knew we needed to run 5 miles, which usually translates to 50 minutes of running.  So, we started off with a run to the development beyond Grandma's house, then to the other end of Dallastown, then back to where we started.  According to Google Earth, which we checked after the run, it ended up being 5.3 miles, so it makes sense that we ran it in 53 minutes and 26 seconds.  Really, it was quite the uneventful run, but it was kinda cool that we estimated it so close to the actual distance we needed to run!

Day 75: ATypical Runs

Today's run was a sticky situation in that it generally difficult to squeeze a run into Monday's evening activities.  But we couldn't let another rest day just slide by since we already rested on Sunday from our 20 miler on Saturday.  So we thought, "We're not softies!  We can't loosen our shoe laces yet!  We've got to push through!"  So even though its difficult to pass up another rest day, we chose not to...

...because we are marathon runners, and it's just what we doo...

So the next decision was how far we were going to run.  We had to modify our training schedule, so tonight's run left us with two options: 1) Run 6 miles, or 2) Run 4 miles.  No one oozed with enthusiasm over option #1, and finally Athena said, "I have to go with #2," so 4 miles it was!  

Our pace was brisk! I could feel the sweat dripping and several times I had to wipe my brow.  It was just a run beyond grandma's and back, which is always nice, knowing that there is a potential bathroom stop halfway, if needed.  This often leads us to discuss the natural laxative we have found in running.  As you can imagine, this conversation is, well, rather unpleasant business, but we don't even notice.  Our brains must be constipated, or running just gives us (as my dad would say) diarrhea of the mouth.  Either way, we are clearly too comfortable with each other...

...It's time we flush this crazy marathon idea down the toilet...

Well, that's about the extent of our run tonight.  I will confess that we had to stop tonight and take a breather on the sidewalk curb (no stool in sight).  Crap...this better not happen again...  

Day 74: Rainy Day Fun??

Today we ran 20 miles.  It was pouring down raining and the wind gusts were up to 40mph.  Actually, we ran through a thunderstorm with lightening & thunder.  When we finished our run, we learned there was a tornado warning until 11pm that night.  CRAZY!

We were soaked from head to toe and probably were carrying around at least 10 extra pounds of soaking wet clothing (yes, we weighed it!) by the end.  Our time was a little less than desirable (3 hrs, 43 mins, 45 secs), but given the conditions, I'd say it was just fine!!  I mean, survival was our ultimate goal, and we lived to blog about it!!  :)

Check out the video for more details on our 20 miler...

Day 73: Jenna's Birthday Run!

So, in honor of Jenna's birthday yesterday (WAHOO... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JENNA!!!), we decided to allow her to pick the run in her neck of the woods.  AND... it may be the last time we let her do that... haha!  :)

Actually, the run wasn't HORRIBLE, but it was a bit difficult because of all of the hills.  When we started, Jenna told us there were 2 hills, but of course the number of hills increased as we encountered them!  Also, since Jenna is THE RUNNING GODDESS, her pace is a little faster than we'd like - especially for a hilly route...

Kendra, Ben, Jenna, & I started running around 7:20pm and ran the 3.6 mile route in 35 minutes and 25 seconds.

Our starting location...

Day 72: Could we outrun you??

As much as we'd love to be able to run in the daylight, sometimes we simply cannot coordinate our schedules to do so... grr!  Today was once again another 9pm run for Kendra, Ben, & I. 

The three of us ran 4 miles in 39 minutes, 45 seconds.  AND... I think Kendra was happy that I agreed to us doing 4 laps around the upper parking lot and then turning around at Kendra's Grandma's house (KENDRA'S favorite route) INSTEAD of 2 laps around the upper parking lot and then running to the end of the little apartment complex beyond Kendra's Grandma's house (MY favorite route).  Ahh, the sacrifices we make for friends!!  :)

After we were finished running, we must have felt ambitious (or maybe our conversations weren't over for the night??) because we decided to walk 2 laps around the track as our cooldown - not something we typically do.

During that time, we had an in-depth discussion about the fact that we could probably outrun most on-foot pursuers (cops, for example) if necessary.  It was kinda funny and pretty random, but it's probably somewhat true!  I mean, we are getting to the point where we can run for 10 miles sort-of easily, and we're assuming that not too many on-foot pursuers could accomplish that.  All we would have to make sure is that the pursuer doesn't catch us in the first couple of miles... haha!

Day 71: Cats and Dogs

Lots of cats and dogs joined us on this run as we sprinted through rain puddles, dodged huge rain drops, and generally made a mess of our new running sneakers.  It was pouring.  Ben, Kyle and I had 5 miles to do and the weather had no mercy.  About 1.5 miles into the run, however, we realized that once you are totally soaked and rain is just running rivers down your face, it's really not that bad.  The half-dry-half-wet state at the beginning is annoying, and the imminent wet car seat afterwards is also unfortunate, but during the run, eh, rain?  No biggy.  We did the normal grandma-->upper lot-->track-->5 miles.  

Thanks to Kyle for making our threesome complete since Athena was unable to join us tonight!

Day 70: A "short" long run...

Athena's run:  For my 8 miler (technically a "long run", though it is considerably shorter than all our latest long runs!), I met up with Leah, who will be doing the Marine Corps Marathon with me at the end of October 2011.  We ran on a trail close to her home in Lancaster County and headed out around 10:30am.  Our college roommate, Anna, came along on bike (which was AWESOME!).  We did the relatively flat 8 miles in 76 minutes - 9 1/2 minute mile pace!  Check out the video for more fun details!!

Anna, Leah, & Athena

Kendra's Run:  I did an 8 mile tour of my town.  It was me and the trusty ipod shuffle in the early evening.  A rather uneventful run that lasted about 80 minutes.  It's sometimes grueling to run a long run by yourself, but on a beautiful evening, only doing 8 miles, I actually enjoyed the solitude.

Day 69: Blymire run = no fun!

Since Kendra picked the run yesterday, I got to pick the run today!  WAHOO!!!

So, ever since we've started this running thing, I've wanted to do a run that includes Blymire Road.  I know those of you that are familiar with this area are thinking, "She should probably have her head examined!"  Right??  Well, I just liked the idea that Blymire lends itself to making a nice big loop through Dallastown.

Kendra & I talked Kyle into coming out for this run.  He didn't know what he was getting himself into.  And he may not run with us ever again.  In fact, Kendra might not ever run with me again either... ha!

Seriously, though... the run was SUPER HILLY, and we figured out (with the help of Google Earth) that the elevation change over the course of the run is 331 feet!  That seems like a lot to me.  If it doesn't seem like a lot to you, then maybe you should go out and run the loop!!  :)

Anyway, our five miler ended up being about 5.5 miles (oops, I overestimated the mileage a little bit!) and we assume we did it in just under an hour, though we still have no watch.

We'll have to see whether I have any running friends on the next run...

Day 68: Flattest roads of Dallastown...

Today we (Kendra & I) embarked on a 6 mile run around Dallastown's flattest roads.  She planned out the run, and by now we all know how much Kendra enjoys running UPHILL (HA!), SO... it was relatively flat indeed!

We started at Kendra's Grandma's and then ran all around Dallastown.  I probably couldn't even tell you where all we ran, but we got the miles in and that's what counts.  We finished the 6 miler in 61 minutes - not too bad for a longer short run...

Jenna joined us for a post-run celebration at Sheetz

Day 67: Reminisce

Kendra & I did our 4-miler by ourselves today... sorta like when we first began running together!  We've come to the realization that, though there are THOUSANDS of different reasons why we enjoy having lots of new running buddies training with us, it's also sort of reminiscent to have just the two of us counting down the miles together.

(insert teardrop smudge here)

We started at Grandma's house.  We went into the apartment complex TWICE (which we've never before done) and then went to the track and back.  It's always interesting to switch up our starting location and some of the details of our classic "Grandma's house run" - it keeps us on our toes!

Neither Kendra nor I have watches, so we had no way of telling what our time was...

(HINT:  A watch may be a good gift idea for our November birthdays or for Christmas.  Kendra likes nice looking silver watches.  I want a small GPS watch.)

Day 66: EIGHTEEN MILES???

We are getting to be legit runners.  We run in snow.  We run in rain.  We run EIGHTEEN MILES!!!

Today, Kendra, Jenna, Ben, & I all gathered in the early afternoon for our weekly "long run".  We've begun to dread the weekends because these long runs are no longer all that fun (but then again, were they ever fun??).  Regardless, we stick to our training schedule and keep running these crazy amounts of miles!

We were hoping to plant a vehicle at one end and then run only one-way, but due to Goldie's unfortunate starter issues, we had to come up with alternate plans.  We started in York City at mile marker 20 on the Rail Trail, ran 9 miles south to mile marker 11 (just past Seven Valleys, for you locals), stopped to stretch (and try our new "Gu" for energy!), and then ran all the way back (Kendra & I inserted two additional stretch breaks in the last 5 miles).

It was a little cloudy/misty starting off (and we actually postponed the run maybe like 30 minutes because of the rain), but then it turned out to be a GORGEOUS sunny day!!

However, if my memory serves me correctly, this was a painful run for all of us - even JENNA, THE RUNNING GODDESS (and you know it's bad then!)!!  I got a blister because of my new shoes... it hurt, but it's a pretty sweet blister!

Anyway, Ben & Jenna went a little bit faster than Kendra & I on the last 9 miles, but then they broke up (ha!) and Ben finished in like 3 hours and 6 minutes or something (CRAZY BOY!).  Jenna came in a little bit after him, but it was the first run that she seemed to NOT enjoy.  Kendra & I came in at 3 hours and 23 minutes.  We all were certainly glad to be done.

We celebrated at an Italian restaurant afterward - mmm, CARBS!!

Check out the video for more about our 18 miler!  Oh, and by the way... people say that if you can run 18 miles, you can run a marathon, so this was a pretty monumental run for us!!

We utilized two Camelbacks, Gu, and Gatorade!

The runners - SUCCESS!

Our new kicks!

Can you see Athena's blister??

Day 65: Snow AGAIN?!?

Kendra, Ben, & I met around 7pm to run 5 miles IN THE ICEY COLD RAIN!!  Obviously, I wasn't too happy about having to run tonight, simply because it was like a rain/snow wintery mix outside, so it was FREEZING!

My negative attitude prior to the run likely impacted my feelings during the run because it was a TERRIBLE run for me.  Kendra and Ben, on the other hand, seemed to feel just fine.

Our 5 mile trek involved running from Dallastown to Red Lion and then back to Dallastown again, which we did in 53 minutes and 37 seconds.

I was soaked and freezing.  I barely stretched and went home right away.  Grr, cold!!

Day 64: New Running Shoes!

Kendra, Ben, & I met at 6pm for a trail run around Lake Williams.  Ben was the only one that actually felt good for this run (ugh!), so he kept the pace fairly brisk.

Actually, twice we passed Ben's cousin, Nick, running along the same trail, but in the opposite direction.  We think Ben was just tryin' to look good by running ahead of the girls... haha!

We did the 3.85 mile trail in 41:17 and then headed to Flying Feet, where we met Jenna to go running shoe shopping!  Our salesman, Phil, was very helpful and made out pretty well that evening - he sold running shoes to 3 out of the 4 of us!

Check out the pictures we have to document our shoe shopping experience!

These are only SOME of the shoes we tried on but didn't end up buying.  Visualize a couple of other stacks our salesman already returned and you'll understand how serious we were about finding an adequate pair of running shoes!

Our salesman, Phil, did pretty well that night - 3/4 of us bought running shoes!

My new best friend:  Brooks Ghost 2

I bet you are all wondering...

   " What happened to Athena and Kendra? 

               Did they quit running?  Did they die running?!  

                        Did they make it to the marathon? "

     Our apologies for neglecting the blog.  You, our followers, have probably been more faithful checking on this site than we have been!  We really have no excuse other than laziness.....of the fingers, that is.  Our legs have still been busy eatin' up the miles.  Yep, while our blog was sitting idle, we've continued to train. Our last post was Day 36, but this past weekend we completed Day 63 of our training!  Wow!  


    We're a little overwhelmed with how to catch up, but bear with us.  We have a couple pictures, some video footage, a 5K or two to report on, some new running friends....good stuff....and for those wondering, we've hit the 17 mile marker! Less than 10 miles to go!


Eh, what's 10 more?  Piece of cake... ; )

Day 63: Seventeen Miler!

 

This week we all had to do individual long runs because of our schedules :(  Since I was pretty sure there's no way I could run 17 miles by myself (especially considering my terrible experience with my last solo long run), I recruited Kendra's brother, Kyle, to ride his bike along with me Sunday afternoon.  Essentially we went 8.5 miles north on the Rail Trail and then turned around to return the 8.5 miles to the starting point.  It was really nice to have Kyle along - he definitely kept the conversation going and was able to encourage me when the run got tough!  AND... we encountered a neat surprise on the rail trail - Casey, a fellow volleyball player, who was out for a bike ride on the Rail Trail and decided he'd join us for the last 5 miles or so.  My total time was 3 hours exactly, which is GREAT because that was my goal for the 17 miler (ya know, besides just finishing it alive)!!  And I really needed this run to boost my running confidence - the last successful run was just 14 miles, so I was extremely excited about completing this longer run!  SORTA FUN :)


Kendra's Run:


I did a road run for my 17-mile solo run.  It ended up being a complete loop from my grandma's house to my parents and back--never backtracking or turning around.  I planted water and Gatorade bottles along the way prior to starting, and I'm very thankful for making that choice.  : )  An eventual thing on the run included watching a young guy being handcuffed by a park ranger.  That was scary.  I also found out after the run that I was seen running by two different people/families.  I had no idea.  


The run felt pretty good until the last mile.  It was a gradual uphill climb that kinda did me in.  I guess it didn't kill me too much, because shortly after the run I was off to play volleyball.  : )

Day 62: Lake Trail Part 2

Well, I was able to convince Ben to run with me around the lake again.  And I really have no clue how I was able to convince him because he was still hurting from his long run the day prior!  I sympathized and told him we could run it nice and slowly :)  Well, the trail was much muddier than our Tuesday lake run and the first thing Ben did was step in a huge puddle and get a wet foot - poor guy!  Our time was 43 minutes and 41 seconds for the 3.85 mile trail.  Good enough!

Day 61: A new run!

I had been waiting all winter for this day:  the day it would be light enough outside after work so I could run my favorite hiking trail around the nearby lake!!  Of course, I convinced Kendra & Ben to come with me :)

Well, I actually felt pretty good during the trail run, but my running buddies couldn't say the same.  They were pretty mad at me for all of the steep, steep hills (only a few of them did I actually remember & prepare them for prior to our run!) and the extremely muddy trails.  Deep down I know they enjoyed the change of scenery...

We figured out via Google Earth (my new favorite run mapping tool!) that the lake run was probably about 3.85 miles the whole way around.  We completed the run in 42 minutes, which is a little slow, but fairly decent considering the trail run was much more challenging than a run to Grandma's house.

Hopefully we can do it again :)

Day 60: Solo Runs...

ATHENA'S RUN:

Well, I knew I'd be in Long Island this weekend, so I wanted to get my 16 miler in before that trip!  I actually was visiting my sister at college, so she helped me map out a fairly flat route in the area.  It looked promising and I was mildly optimistic, but that optimism faded quickly.

While I was running, I decided I would call this my "Road Kill Run" mostly because I saw tons of roadkill (several deer, some miscellaneous small game), but also because I felt like the road was killing me.  At 11am (when I began my run), it was 75 degrees outside, and I had an thick insulated long sleeve shirt on - way too much warmth!  Also, I only had an apple & granola bar for breakfast and I only drank 16 ounces prior to the run - more bad news.

Anyway, I think I had heat exhaustion because shortly after mile 5, I felt dizzy and very sick, aside from being completely PARCHED!  I had no strength left in my muscles and, though my breathing was fine, I honestly could not propel my legs further.  I stopped and stretched, I walked, I tried to run a tiny bit.  It was a complete failure of a run.

So, I figure I covered a distance of about 14 miles (cutting out 2 whole miles) and my total elapsed time was 3 hours and 20 minutes.  I was quite discouraged, but fellow running friends explained that sometimes we just have bad running days and that's okay.  I hoped they were right.

Memorable moments:  Once again, Mark gave me his iPod for the run (THANK YOU!).  I actually drank out of a random spring that I found along the roadside (and got a thorn stuck in my hand while bending over to drink from the spring... ouch!).  I stopped in the downtown area and stretched in front of somebody's home only to find that the neighbor on the porch across the street was just staring at me - ahh!  Very close to the end, I could see my final destination probably less than 400 meters away, but had to sit down and rest before being able to find the strength to get there.  Upon arrival, I probably terrified my sister's college roommate by completely raiding their refrigerator, drinking all the half-drank drinks left in the fridge.  WOW, what an experience!!


KENDRA'S RUN:
I won't say too much here...just watch the video and enjoy!  

Day 59: Night running...

Yet another night run for Kendra, Ben, & I.  We did 4 miles, so that included 4 laps around the upper parking lot and a run to Grandma's house and back.  I guess it seems like we love night running, but it's more like we prefer 9pm runs to 5am runs!

Day 58: ONLY 3 MILES!!

So, for some reason I was really ambitious today and wanted to run today's 3 miles as quickly as possible.  Maybe it had something to do with the fact that we were running at 9pm once again.  I dunno.

Well, the first mile was super quick, but pretty soon Kendra & I decided to slow down a little bit.  We let Ben, Jenna, and Kyle run ahead while we took a more leisurely pace.  I'm not sure what their time was, but we finished in 27 minutes and 24 seconds... not bad!

We enjoy when a 3 mile run pops up on our marathon training schedule - they seem SOOOO short!!  Just another run to Grandma's house :)

Day 57: On the road again...

Kendra, Ben, & I did an evening run today, starting at 9:15pm.  This was my first run back after being sick, so I was well-prepared with cough drops, just in case!!

I definitely was happy to be doing only 4 miles, and I believe Kendra & Ben shared my sentiments because they were still in pain from the rough 16 miler over the weekend.

The run included nothing out of the ordinary... just 2 laps around the upper parking lot (which we did SUPER SLOWLY), a run to the apartment complex beyond Grandma's house, and then back to our starting point.

I guess I could say it felt good to be back "on the road again" but I'm still not able to really say that running "feels good" - haha!

Day 56: Beautiful day, terrible run...

Kendra & Ben ran 16 miles and I biked along because I was still recovering from being sick all week.  They did great, finishing in 2 hours and 52 minutes, but apparently they really struggled through the run.  It was a beautiful day (perhaps slightly too warm) for an afternoon run.

They are starting to get tired...

Muddy calves!!

I biked!

Still able to crack a smile...

Salt de Ben

Day 55: The Fate of the Pace

"Everyone finds a pace that allows them to comfortably run 

for miles and miles when there's no hope of public transportation coming to save them.  Once you find that pace you'll probably hover around it for most of your training..."

That may be true for Dawn (author of The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women), but this is not true for me when my trusty (and slow!) running buddy, Athena, is sick and I'm stuck running with tumor calves and soccer players!  

Tonight's 4 mile run to grandma's took us around 39 minutes.  Thank you, Ben and Jenna.  Athena, hurry back please!

Day 54: Running When You're Sick

2011 Running Advice Insight 67 from running friend, Justin:

"Running when you're sick won't make you healthy."

Poor Athena has come down with some sort of viral infection.  In an effort to get her back on her feet, we have refused to let her run with us this night.  Ok, we just didn't want to get sick, haha, but we figured it would be better for her to rest up so she can be ready for the long run.  She doesn't normally play the "I'm sick, I can't run" card, so I'm glad she actually decided not to venture out with us tonight.  So it was 4 miles tonight, Ben, Alex and I, starting at 9:20pm with a run to grandma's house and back.  It took us 41 minutes.

Day 53: Terrible video...

Run Overview:  Kendra, Athena, Ben, Jenna, & Alex ran 13.57 miles in 2 hours and 19 minutes... our biggest long run running crew ever!  And quite an exhausting run through York City and then finishing up on the Rail Trail.  Check out the video (even though it's the most terrible post-run video ever!)!!!

Day 52: Skipping miles...

We had a different running crew tonight than in previous nights this week - Kendra, Kyle, Jenna, & I.  Ben & Alex didn't make it (I bet the 5 miles scared them off).  And we decided we were feeling tired (or maybe just lazy??  NO, not us!!  HA!), so we shortened what was supposed to be a 5 mile run into only a 3 miler.  There's no record of our time and I cannot really remember anything exciting happening during our run, so that's all, folks!  :)

Day 51: Running buddy appreciation!

This evening Kendra, Ben, Alex, & I ran 3 miles to Grandma's house and back, starting at 9pm.  I'm not even sure of our time, nor any memorable details on the run, so I'll just leave you with this fact:

Kendra & I really enjoy having lots of running buddies!

As my runner friend, Justin, says:

When you have training partners, the pain is the same, but it feels much less significant.  2011 running insight/advice #89  

So running with friends is much more fun!  THANK YOU, RUNNING BUDDIES!!  :)

Day 50: Track = Mostly Hate Relationship

It is interesting to me how running effects people's emotions very differently.  Take our group.  Jenna (aka THE RUNNING GODDESS) actually enjoys running.  Yes, enjoys it.  On our 12 miler, she got more and more chipper the further we went.  She skips for the fun of it, and generally just seems happy about pounding her joints and muscles against the ground for extended periods of time.  I think that for Athena, running tends to bring out her negative side.  On the long runs, we find out every body part that hurts her, every piece of food that's cramping her stomach, etc., etc.  While I do not enjoy running by any means, I don't tend to vocalize my disdain as much, UNTIL, that is, I am forced to run on a track.  

This night's 5 miler was a run to the development beyond grandma's and back to the track parking lot.  We did two laps around the upper lot, and then it was insisted on by Athena, Ben and Alex that we finish up on the school track.  Here's where I found out how running affects me... I complained the entire 4 laps!!!  I ranted for the entire mile, commenting on how boring the scenery, terrible the flatness, uninteresting the smooth surface material...  Yep, pretty much anything I would normally look forward to in a run, I hated on this track!  Clearly school tracks bring out the worst of me...Good thing the marathon is on the rail trail. : )

Posted by Kendra

Day 49: A quick long run...

After our 12 miler

The running crew is at it again - this time for a 12 miler on the Rail Trail!

Kendra, Jenna, & I started at Hanover Junction and ran south for about a mile before turning around and then heading toward the city of York!  Due to a scheduling conflict, Ben was going to begin in York a bit later and hopefully meet us halfway only to turn around and run the last part with us.  It was kind-of exciting to see where he'd meet up with us and we tried our hardest to have at least half our run finished by the time we met him (which did happen because he joined us around mile 6.5 completed).

We did the 12 miles in 117 minutes - WOW, faster than a 10 minute mile pace on a long run!  I can't really remember, but I have a feeling that I was complaining quite a bit about the pace, especially toward the end of the run.  And sadly we did not videotape afterward because Kendra had to be on her way to her next commitment for the day.  A busy day for a run!