Sunday, November 30, 2008

Five Twinkling Stars

Three in three days! Five twinkly Marathon Maniac Stars!

Wishbone: Marathon 1: 7:02
Ghost of Seattle: Marathon 2: 6:29
Seattle Marathon: Marathon 3: 6:06


Friday night, I decided to try the needle and thread trick with my blisters. I soaked them in alcohol, lanced the blisters, and left the thread in to wick. When I was ready for bed, they were refilling, which made me feel a little anxious, so I resorted to my tried and true method for dealing with blisters. I cut a small hole in each, slapped on the neosporin and went to bed with my feet hanging outside the sheets. Saturday morning I put kineseo tape over the two biggest and put a little Hydropel on the others. On with the injinji socks, and into my street shoes. A bit of stinging, but bearable. And after the ice bath the night before, my legs felt great!

I ran marathon two nice and steady with Jessica and Margaret for one loop, then with Steve and Robin added to the mix for the second loop. We chattered away, and towards the end, we sang out loud. I felt strong and amazingly good all day. Finished up in 6:29:31 which was very pleasing. No new blisters, though one did break open and bleed.

Later, at the hotel, I couldn't get the tap water cold enough for an ice bath, so I had Eric dump in three bags of ice. That was better, but still not as cold as at home. I woke up a bit stiff and sore, but ready for round three.

Today I ran with Rob and Jenny. We kept a great pace and enjoyed the day. Rob stopped in Leschi and used Jenny's Starbucks card to get us all hot drinks - I had soy chai - that we just dumped into our water bottles. That was heaven! It was a gray, foggy day, warm and kind of damp. Once again, I felt strong, though the little push in the last two miles was hard. Came in at a stunning 6:06 (Rob tried really, really hard to coax me into a sub-six but I only had one speed today). Again, no new blisters, just the same one bleeding a bit.

I am very pleased with myself and my new five star status. I'm even more pleased that I pulled off three in three days with no injuries and feeling strong. At this moment in time, I can't imagine I'll ever do it again. Though...Jenny and Rob both pointed out that I always say things like that, and then I go out and do it. We'll see...

31 comments:

Joe said...

WooHoo!!! Way to go Michelle! I've beeing thinking about those blisters all day...and you got agressive and dealt with them. WOW!!

This is amazing ...congratulations! And enjoy some time off, to let all those nasty little microtears in the muscles heal up!

Glad to be the first to congratulate you!!!!

RunningLaur said...

Congrats Congrats!
It's running negative splits - having each marathon faster than the last.
Maybe if you run a marathon a day for a week straight, you could qualify for Boston! Haha.

What a fantastic weekend!

Anonymous said...

I'm so happy for you Michelle. Three in three days and the time got better on each one. Incredible. Can't wait to see what's next.

Irene said...

Your poor feet!

Wow, Michelle. You're like Wonder Woman of the road! You continue to amaze me.

wendy said...

5 stars!!! Who knew it was safe to listen to Rob's advice, Little Miss Innocent! =)

Congrats on a fulfilling weekend, and I'm happy to hear you are feeling strong!

Jenny, Maniac #401 said...

It was a fun day out there. Look what you can do! 3 in 3 days. Amazing what you are capable of isn't it. Rest well this week, you deserve it!
Jenny

Laura H said...

Wow Michelle -I am SO PROUD of you!! I wish I could have seen you go by today - you had great support in Rob and Jenny. I did see your slacker husband but that didn't count. ;) Congratulations - you are a true inspiration!

Darrell said...

You did it. And you got faster as you went. Very cool!

And Rob and Jenny are right, you know. ;-)

Journey to a Centum said...

Way to go you burly woman athlete! I mean that in a delicate buttercup sort of way.

Lisa B said...

Fantabulous!!!

lizzie lee said...

Michelle, AMAZING. I admire you SO MUCH!!! I couldn't call you at the start of the race because I got practically when the National Anthem. And as you said you would do the races in ~7 hrs I didn't call you. But I was there when you finished, as I was receiving a nice stretching and massage in the recovery area.

I am amazed of your strength... And Eric's time, OMG, is he for real?

Congratulations!!!!!!

Legs and Wings said...

Stunning! You keep raising the bar! What an amazing triple play. You shine girl!

Jack said...

Congratulations, that was a totally amazing performance! I'm going to have to move to Oregon, you guys are having too much fun!

Anne said...

I bet you get a gold star at work once everyone finds out how you spent your holiday weekend. Truly amazing effort, Michelle. And negative "splits" with faster times on each.

Thomas said...

Wow! What a fantastic achievement, Michelle. There are not many people in the entire world that can realistically expect to complete such a feat. I hope you are sufficiently proud of yourself!

Wes said...

Freakin MANIAC :-) ROFL!! Un---believable!!

Unknown said...

It was great spending the weekend and especially running #3 with you. You looked strong all day. Rest those legs and we'll start thinking about training for the next big adventure :) I got some more good advice for you since I can't follow my own ;)

Bret said...

Only in my dreams I could do that! I am so impressed! Blisters and all! I bow to the 5 stars!

Anonymous said...

not only did you do it, but you got consecutively faster to boot! congrats!!!

jessica said...

you are one amazing woman - congratulations, rest up and start planning the next big adventure.

I can't believe that I got to run in the presence of such an amazing athlete...

congratulations - see what you are capable of =)

Olga said...

Michelle, awesome, congrats on twinkle!

Donald said...

Congrats on star #5! It doesn't seem that long ago that you were excited over #3. You've come a long way.

Leslie said...

You. Rock. Maniac.

Janice {Run Far} said...

Geesh... each marathon you got faster. Great job.

Jenn said...

Holy cow!!! You really ARE insane!
Very impressed.
Hugs
Jenn

Ms Eva said...

WOWZA! 5 STARS!!!

Congratulations, Michelle! :D

Doris said...

BLIMEY! You are a MAD couple ;o)

CONGRATULATIONS on your record(s).... I'd give you 5 double gold stars.. VERY WELL DONE!

PS: Thanks for the blister advice ;o)

Lori B said...

Congratulations, Michelle. Hopefully there's a well deserved rest for you and lots of eating!

Sarah Elaine said...

Congratulations, Michelle!! You are such and inspiration!!

Sunshine said...

Your "one speed" was certainly adequate! Congratulations.

Ryan said...

That's a Marathon Maniac Spectacular - Congratulations on all the dedication and hard work it takes to run three marathons in three days.