Pain You Enjoy ?!?!?!

Monday, May 23rd 2011: My legs were CRAZY sore from the Ogden Marathon. I'm talking crazy. After a marathon, Monday is usually the most painful day and then the soreness starts easing up. Not sore like an injury. Sore like someone is slicing your muscles with a dull meat cleaver. I had those "Who in their right mind runs 26.2 miles?" thoughts.

Tuesday, May 24th 2011: Muscles started easing up and I didn't walk like Frankenstein quite as much.

Wednesday, May 25th 2011: I gave in and went to see the sports medicine doc about my knees. The good news: he didn't even remotely try to talk me out of running the Utah Valley Marathon in two weeks! It's weird - the pain is right on my knee caps. Kind of like if you fell and bruised your knees, although more sore when I run. He didn't think it was runner's knee or jumper's knee so I'll continue to keep an eye on things.

Thursday, May 26th 2011: 16.3 mile bike ride in 1 hour & 4 minutes (15.3 mph average). I rode with friends Shelly, Logan, Tom, and Darin. Even though I usually prefer running or riding by myself, I had fun on this ride.

Friday, May 27th 2011: 1 hour walk to loosen up the legs. I also did a fun 8 mile ride with Mel that night. Can I tell you why I get antsy when I'm not running as much? It bugs me because I know my body is capable of doing more. My miles certainly weren't fast, but I built up some pretty good endurance.

Back when I was younger (younger = 2 months ago) I ran 206 miles in a month. 206 miles! I'd go run a half marathon before work. I did a 34 mile training run. And I really loved the challenge. I'm looking forward to continued improvement so I can get back to that time when I felt so good.

Saturday, May 28th 2011: 3 miles in about 36 minutes. (I'm still in my anti-Garmin phase.) I told Mel I needed to find some dirt to run on, and convinced her to come on a section of the JEM trail with me.

I was wearing my Utah Valley Marathon shirt and my youngest daughter Kylee came up and started sounding out what the shirt said. Then she got to the part that said "Pain You Enjoy".


She got the most puzzled, confused look on her face. You'd have thought I told her my name was Celine Dion and I made really crappy music for my occupation. She said "Pain you enjoy? Like having a baby?" I said "Well, yea, I guess it's kind of like that." She was dumbfounded.


Even though it was in inferno outside we still had a blast on our run. The muscle soreness from the marathon last week is gone and this was one of the best runs I've had in a few months. And.....I'm happy to report that after about 10 tries, we finally got THIS!


"There are few experiences in life in which my physical and psychological abilities are as sharply defined as they are during marathon training and racing...The training and racing experiences have shown me sides of myself that I never knew existed. I've found perseverance, an ability to focus, stubbornness, compulsiveness, bravery, organization, a sense of humor, and a capacity for unbridled joy."
~ Gordon Bakoulis Bloch, How to Train for and Run Your Best Marathon

Don't forget to enter the awesome free contest - only 2 more days left!

Beware Of Meat Loaf

Yesterday I had one of those "It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time" moments. I made two critical errors during my lunch break:
1) I went to the hospital cafeteria for lunch.
2) I ordered meat loaf. Yes, meat loaf.

I honestly can't explain why this happened. I don't really even like meat loaf. Let alone from the hospital cafeteria. I went there because it's right by my work, it's cheap, and sometimes it actually tastes okay. But not on this day. Meat loaf? Seriously? I willingly ordered meat loaf from the hospital cafeteria?!?!

I know what you're thinking Captain Obvious. You're thinking "Duh, you fool! If you chose to eat hospital meat loaf, you deserve that feeling in your stomach like you swallowed an angry badger."

I am so disappointed in myself for my poor choice of food. If one of my children had made this decision, I would have scolded them and proceeded to ground them for a week. I am so ashamed.

I can assure you that I have learned from my mistake. This error will not happen again. Next time I will pass on the meat loaf, no matter how tempting it may seem at the time. Go ahead - threaten me with my life. I still will not eat hospital meat loaf.



(Only 4 days left to win the awesome prize package! Enter Here.)

Free Prize Package Giveaway!

Are you in the mood for something free? If so, you are in the right place. I would like to award you this Awesome Prize Package:



You could win......

• Enough Clif calories to get you through a marathon
• A Run Or Die bracelet
• A copy of my piano CD "You Will Soar" AUTOGRAPHED
• The hardcover book "Once A Runner" by John L. Parker, Jr. AUTOGRAPHED by Cory Reese. Did I have any part in writing this book? Nope. Which makes this such a valuable gift. This is the only "Once A Runner" book in the whole world which has been autographed by Cory Reese.
• AND a free entry into the Hostess Half Marathon in December.
  

I hear you saying "Holy Moses, how can I win that sweet prize package?" Let me tell you how:
1) Click "Follow" on the right side bar = 3 entries. (Add a comment to let me know you did it or are already a follower.)
2) Add a comment about your favorite race or place to run (or any other random thing) = 1 entry per comment.
3) Mention this contest on your blog or Facebook = 3 entries.

The contest will end on Tuesday, May 31st at midnight and winner will be determined using a random number generator. On your mark. Get set. Go!!!!!

Ogden Marathon Review - 2011

I was excited to even be able to run the Ogden Marathon this year, considering that last year for the race I traded carbo loading for barfing in a garbage can. That pesky flu/food poisoning forced me to drop down to the half marathon. This year I avoided any pre-race vomit. Bonus!

At the marathon expo the day beforehand we picked up our packets, taste-tested Clif Bars, and tried this fancy training contraption. When nobody was looking I did my best Karate Kid impression:


We had lots of fun with our friends the day before the race. This is Micah, Braydon, Michelle, Melissa, Mel, some nerdy dude, and my brother Kenny. Notice the fact that everyone is smiling. This is because we had not yet been rolled over by the train named Ogden Marathon.


We boarded the bus for the starting line at 5am (5am = ouch). At the top we met this guy who was a clown two years ago, a ballerina last year, and a bumble bee this year. That is basically awesome.


As me and Kenny were waiting around for the race to start, I saw a notable figure exit the bus - Mr. Pony Tail!


We saw this same guy when we ran the Top Of Utah Marathon last year and since then our pre-race strategy has always included "Follow the pony tail!" Seeing him again was certainly one of the highlights of the day. Here is a picture of the same guy from last year:


If you look far in the distance you will see the starting line of the Ogden Marathon. (Just ignore the guys on the side by the fence who didn't have time to make it to the Port-O-Potty before the race started.)


A few miles into the race I heard someone yell "Cory Reese!" I looked over and saw my friends from graduate school, CJ and Annie Anderson who I haven't seen in many years. Simply nuts. This was CJ's first marathon, and considering some health issues, this was an absolutely amazing accomplishment! (I award 73 points to the guy in the background who photo-bombed the picture. Well done.)


Let me tell you something - the volunteers at the Ogden Marathon are beyond incredible. Honestly, every single volunteer I saw was so happy and friendly and helpful. I could have hugged each of them. I appreciated them so much, and made sure to tell them. One aid station had loud 70's music pumping and all the volunteers were dancing around in hippie costumes. Here's your proof:


The amazing scenery of the Ogden Marathon ALMOST takes your mind off the fact that you are running 26.2 miles and your legs are screaming. Almost.


Isn't this a cool waterfall? It very well could have been tears of the runners who passed before me.


With my knees still recovering, I knew this wasn't going to be a PR race so I decided to take all pressure off and didn't even bring my Garmin. My only goals were 1) to finish, and 2) to have fun. I stopped to take lots of pictures along the way, talked with other runners, and made friends with a horse on the last mile of the marathon.


I finished in 5 hours and 42 minutes (which is approximately 5 hours and 30 minutes longer than any human being should be running). I'm hoping to win my age division in the Most Awesome Jumping Picture category. I got a jump in at every photo spot including the finish line. Please, hold your applause. This will likely lead to lots of awkward photos but hopefully a few keepers.

It was so fun to get race reviews from my friends and brother at the finish line. Many of them even got PRs. We ignored our angry legs for a few seconds to get a group photo:


I joked that by the time I got to the finish line all the food would be gone and a volunteer would stand there with a sheepish smile and say "Um....sorry.....most of the food is gone.....but we have these left-over banana peels." Thankfully the Hostess store is right by the finish line! And thankfully I remembered money in my pack this year! I can think of no better post-race meal than cup cakes and raspberry filled donuts.


I wish I hadn't been in injury-recovery mode for the race so that my time would have been better. But I think as runners we realize that there are ups and downs, and we just need to take what we're handed and do the best we can. I feel happy with myself knowing that I took what I was handed and did the best I could do. I'm looking forward to doing the Ogden Marathon again in 364 more days!

The Best Mile Of The Week

Last Friday I had the opportunity to leave on a lunch break and go have lunch at the elementary school with my daughter Danica. (Note to self: make sure to eat lunch at the school on days when they serve cherry Cutie Pies. Many kids don't like cherry Cutie Pies and will offer theirs to you. And cherry Cutie Pies are simply scrumptious.)

After lunch they had their last fun run of the year. This awesome program started by the awesome Mrs. McCombs and the awesome Liz Dansie lets the kids do a mile run once a month on the track. They get a stamp on their hand after each lap, and once they have finished a mile they get a Cougar Paw.


I had a blast running with Danica and her friends. It is so fun to see the kids scampering around the track effortlessly while I'm trying to coax my old bones around the loops. I even earned myself a cougar paw.


I am really proud of Jackson for earning a cougar paw for every month of the year. This was something he decided to do on his own and he has a cool keychain full of paws. Not too many kids did all the fun runs.


This was easily the best mile I ran all week.