Two Weeks to Surf City Marathon

This week has been nothing but storm with thunder and lightning, and the nonstop rain completely messed up my training schedule. Last Sat, I had run my 20 mile long run and was happy that did not have much “pain and suffering” afterward. So I figured the remaining two weeks till Surf City Marathon, Feb 7, should be just easy and breezy. Who would know that the rain would just pour down nonstop, and the County even issued a tornado warning?

I had joined the Bay Area Runners group last April after moving up from L.A, and glad to have met very nice and easygoing running buddies. Some of them asked me if this (Surf City) would be my first marathon, after seeing me training myself on my own by adding extra miles after our group runs. Actually I have completed several full marathons and half marathons through Team in Training between 2005 and 2007, and I truly love the experience of both being a participant and a mentor.

However, with the financial weigh down, I can’t go back to the Team again, so I decided to map out a training schedule for myself and see how I would do. During the process of coming back as a long distance runner, I need to keep myself entertained and motivated to run faithfully, therefore I signed-up and completed the exciting and hilly  Nike Women Half, San Jose Rock n Roll Half, the unexpected hot Santa Barbara Half, and running with Elvis Las Vegas Half in Oct, Nov and Dec. Slowly I built up my mileages by running 5 to 6 miles on Tue and Thur mornings, and running the long runs on weekends on my own.

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I remembered couple years ago Brian asked me if I liked to run alone yet, at that time I did not understand the “yet” part, but I believe my answer back then was I had just discovered the fun of running solo. Many people have told me that they don’t like to run alone, or they can’t keep up running without a partner. But I found the time with myself very precious and almost therapeutically; I like to use couple hours to speak to my inner-self, or just quietly self-reflect. I even found myself running with big grin on my face in cold, rainy and windy morning on the almost secluded trail.

There are other new discoveries this season, first and the best is my new Garmin Forerunner 405 – the GPS enabled sport watch. I used to have a heavy and bulky 201 that’s simply too big for my wrist, and I haven’t used much of that one. For Christmas, my friend Jay gave me this wonderful 405 as my Christmas present and I just absolutely love it. So far I have only used couple and very basic functions of this Garmin Forerunner 405 GPS watch, but I love the applications that friends have suggested.

I started using the Running Ahead training log that Chris has been posting on Face Book, and for the first time that I am seeing all the details about my runs. The graphs, course maps and runs summary are really fun to read. Feride had told me about turning my running mileages into charity donation and I discovered that I can continue to support TNT with my miles – every mile I run will convert to $0.18 to TNT. Even Joe at Plus 3 Network has also been extremely helpful; not only had he helped me with my cause setup, he even proactively suggested how I can contribute more to TNT.

Another great discovery is the Compression Socks which I saw Loi wearing them at Nike Women’s Marathon. I decided to give it a try after reading all the positive online reviews posting by runners, so ordered mine from Road Runners and gave tried them on my 20 ml long run. Not sure about the O2 thingy, but I did find the socks gave my legs a strong “hold” feeling and I felt I got stronger legs/less wobbly legs during the entire 20 ml, and the next few days after the long I did not experience the usual pain associate with a long run. Love the socks!

One more new “like” is the KT Tape. I got a sample in my goodie bag from Santa Barbara Half Marathon and tried it on the race day. Not sure it was psychological or it really worked, but my ancient left leg stiffness and pain seemed to disappear during this race. I have had pain on my left ankle and calf as the miles of my run increases, after reading the product blog posts I thought it wouldn’t hurt to try it on my training runs. The only problem was where to find it. After some research and driving around, I finally got them at the Sport Authority in Great Mall. I tested the KT Tape on my left ankle and calf, and compare how I felt after an 18 ml run. Very clearly I could tell that my left ankle felt less pain from the pounding on the ground. I think I will continue using them and may try the tape on my shoulder as well during race day.

Here I am, two weeks till Surf City Marathon and I am both excited and anxious. Excited because I haven’t done a full marathon since June of 2007, and anxious because I have been training without the help of coach, captains and teammates. I want to know if I can achieve the goal all by myself, so can’t wait till race day to taste that victory after those 26.2 miles.