Friday, October 06, 2006

Moving On

Thank you for all your support and congratulations on Portland. It was a wonderful experience that I am planning to repeat soon. Very soon. In fact, I might be in taper right now! I'm going to run a low-key, free local marathon with Rick and Jenny on November 5th, and I'm signing up for Seattle, which is on November 26th. I know that a lot of you will think it's too soon, but I am surrounded by Marathon Maniacs who do it all the time - Eric, Rob, Lesa, Patch, Lori and others. They keep their fitness levels up, and mostly consider the marathon their long runs. While it's true that the marathon distance is new to me, I have a very strong base and think I can do this. A little bit of it is impatience with drawn out training periods, a little bit fear (as in, do it while I can), and I think, going way back to one of Olga's old posts, a little bit of it is greed. (I can't find that particular post to link too, just go read Olga instead!) I'm kind of like the dieter that hasn't been allowed to eat chocolate - now that I'm off the diet, I'm going to gorge. I have four marathons I'd like to do in the spring as well, plus any others that I can manage to get to in between December and April.

My toe is healing up nicely - I finally got brave enough to test it last night. I put in a little over three miles at the park next to the track and felt fine afterwards. Monday I was a little stiff, especially my quads, and my toe was terrible. My legs improved quickly - I think I could've gone out for a run Tuesday if it hadn't been for the toe. I'm going to try something a little bit radical - I ordered a pair of Bite Running Sandals. Tony, one of the Main Maniacs, wears them while running marathons and told me they worked well. He hasn't tried them out in the pouring rain, but I figure my feet get wet anyway, so why not? At the very least, it'll give my toes a chance to heal, and at the best, I'll love them and never run in shoes again. As for debris getting into the sandal, he hasn't had a lot of trouble and said if it does, it works itself back out. The downside is that they aren't carried locally, so I couldn't try them on and had to order them blind. I hope they feel good and I picked the right size.

I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend. Riley will be away at a 4H event and one of the runners is hosting a tasting of Italian wines. I'm planning to run easy - a couple of five milers to get everything loosened up and the toe toughened up, then will go for a long run next weekend (hopefully in my new sandals). With a wine tasting and running, it should be a fun weekend!

21 comments:

Wes said...

Wow! Before you know it you'll be doing 50 marathons in 50 days, and I'll be paying to run with you in my local area!! I can't wait to hear how your runnning sandals work out. Keep us posted.

Black Knight said...

Congratulations for your marathon. Impossible to rest, the day after we are always ready to plan the next race!

Olga said...

Oh, yeah, Michelle, go gorge yourself! So far I might have been bloated, but never threw up:)
I love it how you jumped off the high bridge into Maniacs, it is fun, and yes, do it while you can, we only live once. Here, anyway. I know that you know how to listen to your body, and I know you are much smarter than many of us, so if need to - you'll take a break. You are not greedy. You are fun and challenging yourself.

I pulled my toenail off yesterday. It looks gross, but better than be afraid it might accidently catch onto sock and be painful. Not the first time, not like you're loosing an arm and a leg:)

tryathlete said...

Lovely photos in the last post!

Hope the toe heals soon. A running sandal is less radical than a shoe with a cut-out toe, I suppose.

Loads of marathons on the horizon. You are a maniac!

Unknown said...

What have we created? (Yes, I am talking to Eric, Olga, Lesa(especially Lesa, she is like a drug pusher when it comes to running marathons), Patch, etc)

Pretty soon you will be hounding me to run this marathon and that marathon and calling me a sissy because I am too busy with school to run all these events.

Anonymous said...

Hey! I think we should combine wine tasting with a marathon. We could call it the Puyallup Running of the Grape Marathon. The aid stations at each mile would be stocked with Vino Rosso, Vino Bianco, Grappe, Pinot Grigio, Cardonnay, Seleziani, Merlot, etc. Toward the end of the race the aid stations could have Annie Green Springs, MD 20/20 (Mad-dog),Lancer, and boxed wines because at that point those left standing really wouldn't give a rip. And yes we would have Olga dancing in a native dress drinking vodka while in a large vat of grapes squashing them down to make some more great wine. Let's see, since I'm a bling runner the finishers medals would be grape clusters and the race shirts would be tie-dyed using natural grape colors. We are looking for a race director!

Eric :-)

Anonymous said...

Okay Michelle- I've finished my marathon race report on the Y site, and I'm ready to go one the second of many more marathons! Feeling great the last couple of days!

Michele said...

Can't wait to hear how the running sandals work out for you.

What is this a "free" marathon??? I don't even want to add up what I have spent in race fees this year alone.

Ryan said...

Yup your hooked....it's funny some people finish a marathon and say it’s not for them, some say one a year and some like yourself start planning to run another next month...you’re definitely on the marathon maniacs path =) I agree with you - it is easier to just keep yourself in marathon mode! This way you can run a marathon whenever you want!

This is a nice time of year for wine tasting, enjoy your weekend!!

Sarah said...

There's no stopping you now, Michelle! I can see you are headed to the insane asylum. ; ) : )

I'd like to do Seattle, but I don't think its going to work out with my (non-running) schedule this year. But it sounds like I'll certainly be seeing you at another marathon somewhere soon. : )

JustRun said...

Wow, lady, good for you! People do say that's crazy but I know the feeling. You can do it so why not? Good luck and take care of your legs and feet. :-)

Jenny said...

Wow it sounds like you're hooked! It will be great to hear how you get on in the next races. Take care of that toe :-)

Mmem said...

Found your site via Wes...Congrats on Portland!!! GL with your upcoming marathons (I wish I could just decide to run a marathon or two as my long runs! I'm not there yet...), and the sandals look mighty comfy.

Have a fun weekend:-)

Thomas said...

Woah, you are well and truly hooked. At that rate you've overtaken my marathon total by Christmas.

Running sandals. I never knew. I'm sure you let us know how they feel.

Anonymous said...

Marathon away! You are an inspiration.
And, LOVE the new shoes.

D said...

It must be hard NOT to plan your next one quickly with all these marathon maniacs surrounding you. I look forward to reading all your race reports. I hope you had a great weekend.

Taunya said...

Running sandals--what a great concept! Let me know if you like them.

Sounds like you are marathon maniac too now that you are a marathoner!

runliarun said...

Nothing like wine and marathons and high spirits! There you go...

Sarah Elaine said...

I remember Olga's post on greed. In fact, I think of it often.

As for you and your newfound love of marathons, enjoy it! You deserve to have fun and revel in the base you have built up.

Olga said...

I forgot to tell you I have BITE sandalls, and ran on roads in them, as well as one marathon. They are quite OK, just a bit too hard for me (a soft trail shoe spoiled gal), and on roads debries weren't a problem. Oleg even ran in them on some dry trails in Forest park. BTW, at the time I ran that marathon I was the only female who ran in sandals, so I held a world record:) Very easy to beat, go get me!

Darrell said...

Ah, the allure of the marathon. It's not too difficult to imagine joining forces with the Maniacs. Enjoy yourself!