MARATHON DAY PLANNING!

Hey there! Anyone that's interested in doing some miles with me on 10-10-10 shoot me an email and let me know! This is where I'll be and approximately when! (Give or take let's say 10 mins before or after the listed time) :) I will have to complete the final 2.2 miles solo....tho I would love to see faces at the finish line as well! :0)
Copy and paste this link in your browser for a printable map of the course: http://www.chicagomarathon.com/CMS400Min/uploadedFiles/Chicago_Marathon/Runner_Information/10_CM_Map_FINAL.pdf
SPLIT/ ELAPSED TIME/ Approximate Arrival TIME @ EA. MILE MARKER

1 mile 20:36 4:35 A.M.

2 miles 41:11 4:55 A.M.

3 miles 1:01:47 5:15 A.M.

4 miles 1:22:23 5:35 A.M.

5 miles 1:42:59 5:55 A.M.

6 miles 2:03:34 6:15 A.M.

7 miles 2:24:10 6:35 A.M.

8 miles 2:44:46 6:55 A.M.

9 miles 3:05:22 7:15 A.M.

10 miles 3:25:57 7:35 A.M.

11 miles 3:46:33 7:55 A.M.

12 miles 4:07:09 8:15 A.M.

13 miles 4:27:45 8:35 A.M.

14 miles 4:48:20 8:55 A.M.

15 miles 5:08:56 9:15 A.M.

16 miles 5:29:32 9:35 A.M.

17 miles 5:50:08 9:55 A.M.

18 miles 6:10:43 10:15 A.M.

19 miles 6:31:19 10:35 A.M.

20 miles 6:51:55 10:55 A.M.

21 miles 7:12:31 11:15 A.M.

22 miles 7:33:06 11:35 A.M.

23 miles 7:53:42 11:55 A.M.

24 miles 8:14:18 12:15 P.M.

25 miles 8:34:54 12:35 P.M.

26 miles 8:55:29 12:55 P.M.

26.219 miles 9:00:00 1:00 P.M.

Sept. 25, 2010 - 22 mile day (not so much!)

This past Sat was supposed to be a 22 mile training day! However, I just wasn't feeling it...I did go out and train but 22 miles wasn't gonna happen. I had been fighting a bad cold the week prior which definetly carried on into the weekend. Sat the coach and I did park our cars at two different spots along Rubio and Yankee Woods. Packed up the 2 coolers again and set out to do our miles. I finally called it quits around mile 13 for the day (which is nearly half a marathon :) lol!) I'd say by mile 9 I could feel I had already had enough training for the day and started feeling the wrath of the cold creeping back on me so by mile 13 I knew I was good to call it a day plus a stream of events were occuring so I had to call it a day anyways.
PAWS 8K was on Sun as well so miles would get in then too....just not consecutive miles! My puppy was supposed to join me in the 4K but last minute I let him go with my sister to the cottage. I'm sure he had more fun up there anyways!

CRAZY MARATHON DREAMS!

Wow...so over the past few weeks since I've completed the Oak Brook Half Marathon I keep having these dreams about the Marathon. Basically the evening before I have these dreams; I find myself not getting any sleep because I am lyingg there freaking out about the miles I have to do that next day and how I am going to get them all in, and in a decent allowed amount of time. The week following the 20 miler has been my worse week of dreams yet.....wait these are more like nightmares! I made horrible timing for the 20 miler...I could think of many elements that may have caused this...but realistically that doesn't make a difference. Any of these elements can arise come Marathon Day and I won't have control over them either. The only thing I can/will have control over is finishing the event! So, anyways...just thought I'd share that I've had extreme nightmares and many restless evenings of fear that that I will be struggling to finish come Marathon day! I just hope too at this point that I can actually get a good nights rest the night before the Marathon!

20miler....RAIN OR SHINE!

THIS WAS OUR "THUNDER BLUE" TEK SHIRT! (it got named that due to the thunderstorm that occured during the run)
The 20miler in Elk Grove Village was this past Saturday. (9/18/2010) What an experience! Let me start at the beginning of the day......I was up and out of the house by 3:45am on Sat. I also had worked a Candy Drive/Fundraiser which was a cool thing to be a part of also on Fri. (However, being on my feet ... in flip flops (totally my own fault) the day before I have to do 20 miles...wasn't exactly my brighest idea) LOL! My legs were already swollen before even getting out to Busse Woods! Didn't matter though...I had miles to get in! So, back to 345am, left the house and arrived in Elk Grove by 5am. Yey...for once I was on time....better yet I was ahead of time. It was dark out there so I struggled finding exactly what grove I needed to be at .. but regardless figured it out by 5:15am. The plan was that the coach and I would meet there by 5:45, check in & then begin the event at 6am. It never fails though...something always holds us up. This day it was that the event wasn't ready to check people in on time plus they couldn't find my shirt. I waited around for a bit...but eventually it came down to I didn't care that they couldn't find it and I just wanted to begin bc I wanted to be able to finish in a timely manner before all the participants had crossed the finish line. Me not having my 20 miler shirt earned me the nickname "OAKBROOK" for the day...the reason being was bc I wore my Oak Brook Half Marathon Tek shirt that day instead. So, long story short...HA! we did't end up starting until nearly 6:30am., this put me already at a 30 min disadvantage mentally which I already knew would take a toll on me as I did my miles. I don't mean to sound like a brat...but it's hard to see one person after another pass ya while you're out there trying hard to keep moving and keep ahead the best ya can. Miles 1 thru 4...went by quickly...after that ... oh boy..the miles seemed spread so far apart. I would have loved to of measured them out myself bc there is no possible way that the markers were only a mile apart at times. The temperature was much different then I had been used to also. I consumed just as much fluids as I normally would have...except this time...I had to use the washroom at least twice before finishing the 1st 10 miles. Normally, I would maybe use the washroom once while out there for 18 miles. I just wasn't swetting it out like I normally would be. Again, I saw person after person pass me...the people all being supportive like they have been all along! Runners are super friendly athletes! Some of the runners out there remembered seeing me at Oakbrook as well as saw my Oakbrook shirt on and I heard numerous times....."Keep up the good work OAKBROOK!" So I finally passed the 10 mile marker and kept telling myself I could do this...even though I knew I had wanted to quit already! I really did! By this point....every single participant in the event had passed me...I was the last one in the line...that sucked and it definetly was not encouraging for me! (To the point that I ripped off my Bib bc I didn't want to be associated w being apart of it any longer. I really just wanted to quit...I was about to call my aunt and tell her...I don't want to do this..I already knew exactly what she'd say though...she'd say that I could do it...I've already nearly done it and have worked hard each week but, if I really didn't feel like doing it that I could just quit! I didn't want to feel that I couldn't do it though...I just wanted to be done now. And then ...... it began to rain.....correction it began to down pour...and there was lightning & thunder! It was pretty scary to be in those woods at that point! I saw many people turn around and say no way were they finishing! It didn't make me feel much better about being the last one out there .... but I was happy I kept on trucking along. Bc runner after runner that passed me on their way back while I headed out 5 more miles before the turn around for the remaining 5, would say to me..."Great Job!, that's the way to be!, you can finish! etc, etc, there was so much support from them that you could see that they couldn't believe that I hadn't turned around and gave up with the way it was raining and storming out there. Either way I knew that I would be stuck out there so I just had to make the best of it! Oh....real quick too...one gal that was running passed me on her way back said to me...."Great Job Momma!" needless to say...I do have a BIG BELLY so I could see the confusion plus with the downpour my white tek shirt was now like a horrible spandex shirt that was stuck to my belly :( It wasn't very attractive look I had going! I just laughed the comment off and obviously felt the need to share with ppl that this gal thought I was a momma out there running that day. :) LOL! Ah well! Afterall, that's why i'm out there wk after wk....trying to lose the belly! So, it rained from mile 10 to about 14 while I was out there...the whole time from mile 10 on... I kept telling myself that it was only 5 miles out & 5 miles back....ONLY 5 MILES OUT & 5 MILE BACK! Why was it so hard for me....afterall I had done 10 miles before...these last 10 shouldn't have been such a big deal...well I was dealing w/the self pitty & wanting to quit, the rain soaked me...so now I was uncomfortable,my shoes felt like they each had gained 5 lbs worth of water in them, oh....and then there was the lovely blister I got after my shoes got soaked....a beautiful blood blister that was easily the size of my ipod nano (5th generation for the visual folk). I finally saw the coach again at mile 14.5 and she expressed how proud she was that I kept going. "How could I not...I knew she was out there...and uhhhhhh thought for sure she'd kick my butt...if I didn't keep going!!!LOL...j/k...I really just wanted to do it...I had to know for myself that I could do the 20 miles! Afterall, the Marathon was only weeks away at this point! AHHHHHHH! So, finally on the trek back ... I do believe around mile 17 I started feeling just super drowsy! It sucked...all I really wanted to do at this point was to lay down on the side of the trail and take a nap. (heck I only needed a short one & then I could keep going!) lol! Well, that wasn't option...I had to get back to my car! The coach came and met me at mile 19 (since she knew I was still out there) and walked the last mile with me. I finally was so glad to be back and I did earn my hot dog and banana that they were giving out at the end of the run. I finally got into my car and began driving home and the feeling of that nap kept coming back as I was trying to drive home. I knew I couldn't make the drive home, my cell was ruined from the rain storm so I couldn't call anyone to come meet me so the only thing I could do was find a safe place to pull over and rest my eyes. I finally found a spot that I felt safe at and rested for 45 mins. That felt wonderful, when I woke I finally made the rest of the drive home....and arrived safely! :) WHAT A DAY! ! !

18 mile day & only 4 wks to go til MARATHON day.......YIKES! (9/12/2010)

Today was the 18 mile trek through Rubio Woods, Arrowhead Lake & Turtlehead Lake out in the Tinley/Midlothian/Orland area. Two laps around would give me the 18 miles I needed to get in for this weeks training. Let me first admit to my tardiness that morning! I arrived late this morning. I'm pretty sure that did not make the coach happy! "Sorry again Coach!" I did have things together the night before. However, when I got to the convenien store to buy the ice I needed for the 2nd cooler, it dawned on me that I never put the cooler actually in the car. I had only taken it out of the garage and left it on the driveway. How I didn't notice it on my way to the car is still besides me.... OR it's bc it was the booty crack of dawn & I don't exactly function at my fullest(espcly w/o coffee)during that hour of the day! (Many could attest to this!) Anyways, I finally arrived & we still had to get a car to an approx. half way point so that we could have another cooler there w/ H20 & forms of nutrients in case we needed them. After driving around for a while we finally parked one car & headed back to where we needed to begin at Rubio Woods (during the car ride back we talked about the invite we had extended earlier in the week to friends & family that had interest in coming out to join us for a few miles either by foot or bike). Our trek then began at Rubio Woods at 7:30 am. Doesn't sound like that early of a start until it dawns on you that you've now been awake since 4:30 am & you're just starting your 18 miles! Sorry again Coach! Regardless we began & to our surprise we found the first of many messages written(w sidewalk chalk)on the trail. (The first message was for Mel aka the Coach) "It's just down from here Mel!" So even though we had just begun...it was beyond awesome to see that someone had gone out of their way to come out and give their support like so! From what I understand also....these messages came from Mary Lynn (The coach's 1st coach), Rose & Bernice! Very cool ladies! I know the Coach appreciated the LoVe from her good friends and ThanK YoU soooo much for the support out there too! Then about 3 to 4 miles into the trek came some more messages & a purple flag that drew my attention into the messages.... :)

"Carry on Carrie!" :)

"Well done ladies!"
There were quite a few more messages to come...I only snapped a few photos while I was out there so I could share the support here on the bog that was represented out there on the trail.

"Hip Hip Hooray..Keep going!"

"Way to Go!"
I had 3 visitors out there as well for 9 miles of the training.:) Chan, Navarro & Catherine (Navarro's daughter) all came out to train w me as I got my remaining miles in. Thank you too gals for coming out there to support me! You're all super troopers! I talked to them a couple of days afte the 9 mile trek and they expressed their soreness :( "there's no question that doing that amount of miles ae painful! right girls??? LOL!" After parting from the girls I still had 2.5 miles remaining to go. It had become extremely hot outside and I ran out of water at least 5 miles prior to getting back to where my car was parked. So, when I did finally get back to my car I took in 4 bottles of water very quickly...I still had those 2.5 miles to go and now my stomach was feeling very sore from filling it with water. That I learned was not a good feeling either w still miles to go! So, I got going w those miles and then the Coach called me and asked where I was and how much I had to go. She also checked in on me bc I had expressed when I had saw her last that my legs were cramping pretty bad (again from being so dehydrated w it getting so warm out there). So I gave her the heads up that I still had a couple miles to go. She offered to pick me up closer to where I was. But, after all the days efforts....I just really wanted to finish the miles! So, I did and she was super cool with waiting til I met her at the end. Thank you yet again for waiting for me Coach! :) It felt GrEaT to finish those miles! and now only 4 wks to go until Marathon day!.....Hip Hip Hoooray! :)

Thank you friends for coming out to support me today!!

Lisa, Gavin & Cindy drove out that morning to see me cross the finish line! I hope they truly know how greatful I am that they came out to support me! You guys ROCK!!!!

So .... I obviously had a wonderfully cheezy smile shortly after finishing!

Lisa, Me & Cindy! (Above left to right)

Me & Gavin

After the race we chatted shortly and then all decided to grab some lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise (love that place!) Yey Parrotheads! Then, Gavin, Lisa and I drove out to Monee and played 9 holes of golf in Monee! Good times! Good times!

Half Marathon Day 13.1 miles (Sept. 6, 2010)

My first official results: http://results.active.com/pages/displayNonGru.jsp?orgID=234623&rsID=98487


Coach and I did start 40 mins early. I was freaking out that we hadn't started at 6am and during the whole race that was all I could think about...was that I still may not make it back by the 3.5 hour time limit that was set for the race. However, that was not a problem! With starting early I still finished within that 3.5 hr time frame. Well, to be more specific I finished 3:30:56.....(I'LL TAKE IT!) This was my first ever true timed race. Well, the first that ever mattered to me. I've participated in the Shamrock Shuffle (never ran it either...always just signed up as a walker) a number of times before but never cared about when I finished, just that I did. There were a lot of hills out there on the Oak Brook trek...I did push through them (and felt every single one of them the next 2 days) Oh and bc I had started early I had passed a number of the mile markers prior to the race even beginning and I believe it was near mile 5 that a cop that was patroling the streets told me as I passed him that "I was in 2nd place!" lol! Twas a good feeling to hear him say that! :) even though I obviously knew I wouldn't be for long...Coach was in 1st place at that point btw! Let's see....what else was happening while I was out there....I remember just after passing mile marker 6 that was when we went down hill into another forest area that had a gravel path...that was definetly something I wasn't used to training on either..I remember as I was going down the trail that I could see runners running up a hill that I hadn't approached yet but would be shortly...that was un-nerving as well! As I did finally approach that hill and begin to trek up it I could hear people encouraging 481 to keep up the good work...that I could do it! "Hey that was me!" I was #481 so that was a phenominal thing to be hearing at that point. There were EMT's out there near those two larger hills that were cheering people on as well. They obviously had noticed me too...bc I saw them again as the race was coming to an end; they rode past me on their bikes and cheered 481 on again and then again I saw them as I crossed the finish line...where they high fived me! That was pretty cool too! I remember at one point more towards mile 9 that a gal that was running past me put her hand on my shoulder and said "hang in there...you're doing great!" I seriously wanted to cry right then (the emotion that ran through me was undescribable)..she took the time to notice me and tell me push through...how could I not push through at that point! There were many other friendly voices pushing me on too throughout the entire race! I told the coach at the end of the race that running has seriously got to be one of the most friendly sports I can think of....people are so motivating out there! They take the time to push you as they're out there trucking along pushing themselves.
I saw much of this the whole time...many passed me!

But it's ok...I'm on my own journey working towards my own goal...i'll get there some day...it just takes time like anything.
I tried my first Accel Gel pack while I was out there..they passed them out at one of the fuel stations along the path. Btw...thank heavens they had the water and gatorade out there all day...bc I needed it! But back to the Gel pack...not for me is all I have to say. lol! It reminded me of the gel candy that came out when I was a kid. The gel that was in like the baby bottle or tubes...uggggh it wasn't for me!
So while I was out there...I'd say like by mile #10...my nano died. Long story short is that it fell in the river in Wisconsin (Yes...I know! Electronics & H20 don't mix!) but I wanted tunes on the tube trip! Anyways...the nano doesn't hold its charge longer than 2.5 hrs any longer :( So, I had to rely on my phone that I have music and my podcasts downloaded onto. Well, I plugged into that and since I still haven't taken the time to learn anything other than putting it on shuffle.....when I hit mile #12 my phone jumped to my running podcast! (talk about crazy instances!) I will admit ... I had seriously slowed up...I was tired! Well, seeing as I didn't know how to skip to the next song/podcast on the phone...I had no choice but to listen and follow along. So that is what I did! Which turned out to be perfect...bc it actually pushed me to run..(let's be honest.....JOG) across the finish line.
So Mile 12 finally came...I even have proof!

I finally was rounding the last stretch...and guess who I see? THE COACH! Yes, she beat me back....she is much faster than I and she was there cheering me on and even got next to me and said "Pick up the pace Hannan! Move those legs! Move those legs!" and she proceeded to run behind me...pushing me to go faster and reach the finish line! THANK YOU COACH!

She also told me to "quit posing for the camera!" LOL
I was just acknowledging my friends that drove all the way up there to see me finish my first half marathon.

I did finally cross....it's by no means my favorite picture of myself! But it's the FINISH LINE & I MADE IT! YEY!

What a feeling! There really are't words to even express how great it was to cross that finish line for the very first time! The people cheering, the feeling of accomplishment...it was all just so overwhelming! In a good way of course!

OAK BROOK HALF MARATHON! ......eeeek! it's here!

Yes I've been freaking myself out about the half marathon tomorrow. It seems to have come so quickly! I'm worried about not hitting the half way point in time and that they'll make me turn around and go back the way I came. Which really isn't a huge set back because I still will have completed the 13.1 miles but it's not what I will have set out to do. So I find that frustrating/stressful! The coach and I are planning to start the race a little early though so that I won't have to worry so much about that obstacle! 13.1 miles shouldn't be bad overall tho because I've already done 16 on a long training day. YEY! More to come tomorrow I'm sure! Until then.....here is the course I will be doing on Labor Day....thought i'd include it here so I could recall it at a later date! :0)