Monday, February 25, 2008

Gratitude

A day after the race, I am still doing "the wobble" whenever I try to move anywhere and have taken to walking down steps backward as it much less painful than the conventional method. Still, training and running the marathon has been one of the best experiences of my life so far and I wouldn't trade my sore muscles for anything.
I would just like to tell everyone how grateful we are for all of the support you gave us. It's a cliche, but it was truly a humbling experience to know that so many people were thinking of us. I had calls and e-mails from numerous uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends wishing me good luck and then congratulating me afterwards. My friend in the Peace Corps in Morocco took the time to tell her friends about the run and encourage them to donate to SBP. Other friends stayed at the finish line to cheer me on even though it was getting late and Bob had finished forty minutes before me. Liz and Zach were at City Park just at the time when I really needed someone to cheer me on. Our friend Wes rode along with Bob for a few miles at the end of the marathon to take some of the pain off of his mind.
Jenn and I talked about how much we appreciated the complete strangers who cheered us on along the length of the course. There was the couple in Mid-City who played "Hey Pockey-Way;" the woman on the bridge in City Park who told every runner they were looking strong, no matter how horrible they actually looked; the men in red dresses giving out water on mile 19; and the man on the bike who rode through the course several times to tell everyone they were doing great. And, of course, we had the full support of our parents and siblings through till the very end.
We would also like to thank all of those who donated to the St. Bernard Project. We should have the final tally of how much money we raised soon. If you would still like to donate just look to the following links:
Donate
www.stbernardproject.org

Thanks again and again for everything. We could not have been so successful without all of your love and support.

In gratitude,
Kathleen

All Done

I'm still hurting today and need to rush to study for a class this afternoon, but I wanted to quickly note our times. I clocked in at 4:07:19, beating P. Diddy, and Kathleen came in at 4:47. We both finished near the times we wanted, and didn't hurt ourselves.
I'll write more about the intense pain/joy of it in the coming days.
BTW, We're still fundraising for St. Bernard for the next few days:
www.stbernardproject.org
With pained legs,
bob

Friday, February 22, 2008

Waiting

Yesterday, Bob and I ran our last run before the marathon: only 2 miles. Which means we were just getting started running when we found ourselves done for the day. The tapering overall has been a strange experience since it seems like we should be running constantly to train for the big day. Still, the rest is needed and my body is itchin' for a long run.
We would like to thank everybody who has donated to St. Bernard Project. Though we do not have an exact count, to date we have raised almost$1500 for this worthy organization. If you have not yet donated and would like to, please check out the following links:
Donate
www.stbernardproject.org
Thank you again!

-Kathleen

Monday, February 18, 2008

Times

Through the power of the internet, Bob and I found 25 celebrity marathoners and their respective times. In so doing, two things are made abundantly clear: Lance Armstrong is a god and I must beat Oprah. I say the first because Armstrong ran an incredible 2:46:42 and I look at beating 4 hours as a distant dream. Secondly, Oprah's running ability in 1994 was nothing to snear at and she happens to be the celebrity with the time closest to my goal. Does that mean if I break 4:29 I will have "beat" the most powerful woman in the world? Absolutely.
Unfortunately, 90s hip-hop sensation Salt N' Pepa have not run a marathon to my knowledge. However, earlier this year they came to south Louisiana to work and support the parish. You can support the parish, too, (and my dreams of beating Mike Huckabee-- 4:39:04) by checking out the following websites and donating any time and/or money that you can:
Donate
www.stbernardproject.org

Thank you for all your support!

Kathleen

Sunday, February 17, 2008

One Week Out

Holy Crap.
A week from now, I will be either eating a huge meal while trying to ignore the pain in my legs, or I'll be laying in my bed trying to sleep and ignoring the pain in my legs. I will have run 26.2 miles straight.
My feelings have actually been relatively calm regarding the marathon. Occasionally I freak out--in particular with the taper--but I really do trust that our training has been good enough that we'll finish in good time. But as I get closer and closer to it, the reality of finishing a marathon begins to sink in more.
Today was the last so-called 'long run'. But the length wasn't really long at all: only 8 miles. We ran on a pretty scenic route up and down the levee into and out of Jefferson Parish, through The Fly (next to the Mississippi), and then back to Magazine Street. It was a beautiful afternoon.
I'm going to miss the long Sunday afternoon runs. Even today, I felt like running for another hour or so, just because I haven't been on a long run in a few weeks. I never expected to have that feeling, but I do.
Only one week left...only one week left to help St. Bernard Project while we're still training, too.
We feel good about the amount of people and money who have donated so far to the project. We thank you all very much. We're hoping to rack in more donations this week to keep buying Sheetrock, insulation, cabinets, sinks, tubs, and everything else that goes into remaking a house that had been flooded. Here are the two links, the first one to DONATE and the second one to the St. Bernard Project site:
Donate
www.stbernardproject.org
Thanks for reading! Later this week we'll talk about the times we want to beat and pre-race preparations...
Bob

Friday, February 15, 2008

So here we are...

Well, I know that it's strange that my first post comes just over a week away from the race but...you know how that is. I'm doing the half, and although it means I've done no where near the miles that Kathleen and Bob have done, it's still been tough training for it. I think Bob had it right, it's not exactly the physical nature of running...but sometimes it's more finding the three hours (well--in my case more like 1.5-2) of free time to go out and do something wholly unrelated to school, extracirriculars, etc.

I think if anything the training has made me decided to make the running a permanent part of my life. Small runs during the week with long runs on the weekend. I only hope that lack of a specific race to run in doesn't sway me from keeping that habit. Unfortunately, it's not always possible to get out there and run those miles--this past week for example, I was in Washington, D.C. and haven't done an ounce of running since I did 8.5 miles on Friday before I left. I hope it doesn't set me back too much...

I'm still excited/anxious for the marathon, nonetheless.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Running in Circles

It was pouring rain yesterday in New Orleans and the region; the rain and wind actually caused some building damage around the region.
But for us, that means we had to--for the first time in the four months of marathon training--run inside at Loyola's Rec Plex.
Luckily, we only had to run 4 miles yesterday, or 32 times around the upstairs track. It actually was refreshing, in a way, to run in such a stable environment. I didn't have to worry about tripping over uneven or hilly sidewalks, and didn't have to deal with crossing cars.
But at the same time, I don't think I could do much more than 4 or 5 miles on the track in the gym. For one thing, keeping track of the laps gets difficult, especially when you are talking to someone. Second, running around a short track requires a level of mindless repetition that is hard to maintain for a long period of time. During the 14 and 16 miles I did by myself in NYC over Christmas, I got better at being able to "turn my mind off" and stop thinking. But a track offers no distractions at all from your mind. It is very hard to tune out while running the same route over and over and over and over....
But the run worked out pretty well. We actually maintained a pace much quicker than our normal pace, though we may or may not have excluded the final lap.

I've been getting great responses from friends and family who have begun checking this site for our updates and info on St. Bernard. Kathleen's post has some more info on it below, and here are the two important links for it:
Learn about St. Bernard Project
Donate to St. Bernard Project
Here's another pic from Shrockin. Jenn is in the middle with the sweet pigtails, and Liz, the founder of St. Bernard Project, is the blond at the bottom. Loyola volunteers are here with part of a family that they helped last fall.
-bob

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

I, too, am getting a little nervous about the approaching race. Still, I have a lot of support to make it worth it. My cousin Adam called me yesterday to wish me good luck, and the rest of my family keeps sending me words of encouragement/ looks of disbelief whenever I mention the marathon. Worries aside, I'm getting very excited about next Sunday.
A little bit about the St. Bernard Project-- It was started by Zack Rosenburg and Liz McCartney in March 2006 after they had visited the parish and felt a connection to the people there. As Zack has said many times, "We realized that these were people who had done everything 'right,' owned their house, paid their taxes, had a job, and still they lost everything and the government had left them behind." Jenn and I became involved with the project that fall semester when we met Liz at another site in the parish and thought her project sounded like a good idea. For all the work that they do and the inspiring examples they continue to be, I count myself blessed to be able to know Zack and Liz.
Loyola University Community Action Program (LUCAP), an organization in which all three of us are involved, has a rebuilding project that works with St. Bernard Project called Shrockin'.
Check out this amazing photo of Jenn
shrockin' it out!


Pre-Marathon Worries

As the big day approaches, I'm getting slightly more and more nervous every day. It certainly isn't an overwhelming nervousness. I'm not even particularly worried about the distance. More than anything else, I'm worried about what I'm going to do when I finish the marathon.
What's next?
I've been running four days a week--often for hours on end--since October. Since Christmas time, I've had to schedule huge chunks of weekdays to running, both in freezing New York and beautiful New Orleans. I've finished a 10-mile run minutes before a test began.
In other words, I'm going to have some free time on my hands.
I'm not going to jinx myself by starting to think about my post-marathon schedule, in particular about any races or anything coming up. I'll stay focused on the one coming up in less than two weeks...
Useful links:
Donate to St. Bernard Parish
St. Bernard Project Info

Sunday, February 10, 2008

The Last Run Above 10 Miles

Today we ran the last run before the Mardi Gras Marathon (Feb 24) that is above 10 miles. Our 'Novice' training has a pretty significant taper (you can look at the schedule here) and so we stay under 10 miles the rest of the way out. That is an intimidating drop in mileage, but it seems as if all marathon training follows the same pattern.
It was actually too hot a day for a good run. I certainly hope that the marathon day is cooler than today. Thought it was a nice day to go sit out at the Fly, it wasn't a nice day to be running up and down St. Charles all day.
Monday is an off day, as always, as we return to school following the Mardi Gras break. We'll have some more St. Bernard photos and info up soon, and we'll also have some pics of us running (though Kathleen seems embarrassed at the idea of it).
For now, I'll just give you the two most important links on this page again:
St. Bernard Project
Donate to St. Bernard Project

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Only Two Weeks Left

It's only two weeks and a few hours away.
Kathleen and I have been training for the Mardi Gras Marathon for 16 weeks--four full months. Four months ago, when we started our training for a half marathon, running more than two miles was a huge struggle. Now, as I am two weeks away from running the full 26.2-mile marathon, I feel like my Sunday run of 12 miles is no big deal. My mom even said that it "was nothing", especially compared to the 20-mile and 18-miles of the previous weeks.
It is pretty nerve wrecking to think that the hardest part of the training is over. With only two weeks to go, we are in the middle of the taper, which means we're running less and less every week. The final week before the marathon features only 9 total miles--the same total as the first week of training.
Of course, the final week is capped by a grueling 26.2 mile race around all of New Orleans, where the first week was capped by a 6 mile jog around Uptown.
While I am anxiously awaiting race day, I want to point everyone to the St. Bernard Project website and the 'Donate' link on the right side. Kathleen and I started the training months ago not only out of some personal desire to punish our bodies, or even to get in shape, but mostly out of a desire to raise money for St. Bernard Project, a great organization that is helping families return to Katrina-ravaged St. Bernard Project. Every dollar you donate to the Project will help rebuild damaged homes in the devestated area of the Gulf Coast.
Look around their website. Kathleen and I have dedicated countless hours of training in the hope that we can raise money for the organization. If you've got some time, please try and help them out.