June 2013 2nd half

 

 
It's Father's day and we are in San Francisco to run the 2nd half of the marathon and earn our Half It All Challenge medal.  Last year, we ran in July and it was cold and misty. The weather was pretty miserable although I prefer cool over hot but alas the Golden Gate bridge was pretty fogged in.  This year, it was in June because of another race in July.  Wow what an amazing day in SF!!! Incredibly clear and comfortably cool.  Running through Golden Gate Park was amazing! I never knew SF had such a beautiful park.  Haight street was incredibly beautiful with colorful murals everywhere.

Marcus was great at helping me stay steady with my pace. The course had some light rolling hills and two down hills. I didn't start feeling pain until the 9th mile just like my training.  However, it became a mental game to push through little milestones through the last few miles. I thought often of SBM who would soon endure pain for double the run distance and it helped me block out the pain. At the end, I was very pleased that my race pace was faster than my last two long training runs at 10:27 avg = 2:18.  We had a great time at the after party and the food was terrific. I really love our challenge medal but I don't think I will return for the full Marathon next year.  I think I'd rather run the Women's Nike Marathon in October if I can get in since it is a lottery entry. We had to walk back to the hotel which was one mile away and my foot really started to throb so I decided to talk to it and plead for mercy!  I iced it when we returned to the hotel and it bounced back fairly quickly.

Next on the calendar was the inaugural JUMP aquathlon on June 23. Wow that was fun! We took the Lady Hornblower cruiser out to the middle of the CV Marina, jumped off the platform, swam 1 mile and then ran 6 miles.  The water was choppy but warm so I was so glad to be in a sleeveless.  Finally I solved my chaffing issue with a rash guard under the sleeveless wetsuit. I loved the event but holy moly the swim exit was rocky and when I started to run through the little rocks, I tumbled backwards in foot pain.  I hobbled my way carefully up the bank and limped into T1.  My Achilles had been hurting from 160 miles of biking that week that I wore an ankle bandage on the run.  The run went pretty well at a 10:20 avg pace so I am improving slowly, but it was a bit embarrassing when Judy, the 70 year old, ran by me like a steamboat! I hope I can run that fast when I am her age! I did run 18 miles total this 3rd week of training for SOMA so my marathon training is on track.

 On the same day as JUMP was the Ironman Coeur d'Arlene.  SwimBikeMom Meredith Atwood would be attempting her first full ironman after only completing a 14 mile run in her training due to hip pain.  She and I have followed a similar tri journey so far but I delayed my IM adventure for foot surgery and she continued after we both raced two 70.3 events. She has endured so many physical issues,  a job, young kids, and weighs 200 lbs.  With all this going on in her life, if she can finish, then so can I.  She needed hip surgery but continued to train the best she could for her once in a lifetime shot at a full ironman.  It was incredibly exciting and fulfilling to watch her stats throughout the night and after a long grueling bike ride for 8:11 hrs, I was worried about her run and the pain she would need to endure even at a sub 16 min/mile pace. But with about 15 minutes to spare, Mike Reilly announced she was an ironman and tears streamed down my face in pride as I watched her live through the website.  I have more confidence in myself than ever before because she has shown me that FEAR IS A LIAR.  Get your brain out of the way and achieve your dreams.

Bunion and Hammertoe 6-9 weeks

Our family has been in a whirlwind of celebrations over the last month.

At 6 weeks, I was able to wear dress shoes to my daughter's Cornell Law graduation ceremony. My instep/footpad is still swollen so I couldn't wear anything too fancy but it beat tennis shoes with a dress! I do walk with a slight limp because my footpad is swollen and I tend to lean to the outside of my foot since my 2nd toe has no flexibility.  However, I was not in any pain. I looked at a lot of pretty feet and shoes at the celebration, eager that one day I will have that too!

At week 7, we had a family vacation for a week in Cancun, Mexico.  I started running 3 miles on the treadmill during this time.  It was far too hot and humid to run outside.  I ran three times increasing to 4 miles indoors for a total of 11 miles for the week.  I iced my foot or went swimming immediately following the run to reduce the swelling. I actually think walking for 8 hrs a day through the tours was more exhausting on my foot!  The ocean was always the best remedy though!

Sailing toward Cozumel

the center of the sun in Chichen Itza

climb, zip, row, swim, walk hills, drive ATVs all day in an oven

Couldn't get enough of the ocean in front of our hotel, Live Aqua

water is so therapeutic!

Week 8, I started preparing for my next half marathon in San Francisco on Father's day, June 16.  I ran every other day increasing mileage to 4, 5, and 6 miles. Total mileage for the week was 15 miles. I am regularly cycling 40 milers, three times a week as well swimming 1-2 miles three times a week.  I have not started bike/run bricks yet but instead, swim after each run to reduce swelling.  I felt no pain in my runs so far but my gait is a little off which can give me slight pain in my knee. At the end of the week, I took the weekend off for my son's medical school graduation and engagement party.

We had a huge family gathering June 1 for Ryan and Aliyah's UC Irvine School of Medicine graduation.  We had close to 30 of the Serrano and extended family plus the Khan family, screaming with excitement.  As some families were cheering lightly for their graduate, we soon felt competitive and went for the GOLD and screamed, whistled, and chanted for our favorite couple louder than anyone! We had a wonderful family graduation party in Laguna Beach afterwards.

Our newly blended family

backyard view looking over PCH into the Pacific Ocean from Laguna beach

soaking my swollen foot after running up and down stairs serving food all day!

On June 2, we all attended Ryan and Aliyah's engagement party in Valencia, CA where we celebrated the beginning of their wedding plans for May 16-18, 2014.  We were shown some of the Indian traditions and were graciously accepted into the Khan home full of color and celebration!

I am now in week 9.  With the weekend off, I jumped to an 8 mile run which went well and felt slower than I wanted but still basically pain free.  I skipped the swim due to the weather and paid with throbbing and longer swelling in the evening. The only pain is on the 2nd toe with the 60mm pin.  The joint connecting the toe to the ball of the foot is inflexible so this can throb over extended running time.  I have never had pain from the bunion surgery.  I then biked 40 and 35 mile routes over the next two days to give my foot some time off the pavement.  My cycling endurance seems to be close to normal now and decided last minute to join the Fiesta Metric Century ride this coming Saturday June 8 for 67 miles.

Thursday was my first 10 miler and 9 wk anniversary date. The pin started throbbing about mile 7 but not too bad.  However about mile 9, it felt like a rock in my shoe and the pain really started elevating and my run slowed.  My route was two separate loops around Sail Bay and Mission/Bonita Bay.  I had to run some incline for SF preparation because I had only run flat over the last couple weeks so I could at least get in the mileage.  So I chose two overpasses to work some elevation and it wasn't too bad however SF 2nd half is hilly so I'm probably going to be hurting just from lack of preparation.  I finally decided to walk one minute at mile 9.37.  I decided it just wasn't worth the pain escalation.  I will likely run/walk SF half next weekend but I will have to accept that it is not a big deal since I'm still recovering.  I have 3 1/2 hours to complete it and I feel like I can still finish in 2 1/2 hours.  I completed the 10 miles rather sad that it was so slow and that I walked for one minute so close to the end but as my mentor, Meredith from SwimBikeMom (SBM) says....just keep moving forward.  It was a beautiful day for a run! Total wk 9 mileage is 18 miles.

Sail Bay

I am a religious reader of the SBM blog.  http://www.swimbikemom.com/blog  She is incredibly inspirational and speaks for all us nut cases that train to finish the best we can, whatever that time is, and knowing that we did it is all the reward we need.  I will be with her mentally as she attempts her first Ironman in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho this month, June 23.  I will live through her experience as I decide between IM AZ or IM CdA, for my first full Ironman. Her blog has really kept my spirits up during my recovery period.  She has survived so much more than me and yet still keeps moving forward.  I can't wait for her to cross the finish line! One day I will cross the 140.6 finish line too.

My wonderful Dr. Jay Berenter cleared me today to exercise as I see fit.  My foot continues to improve daily and I just need to ice it after long periods of exercise. I also lightly wrap it with compression for my long runs.  I hopefully will not see him again until Nov 12 for my preop appt for my right foot bunion surgery Nov 14. Before my 2nd surgery, I plan to have completed at least 3 half marathons, 1 full marathon, 1 half Ironman triathlon, and 2 Olympic triathlons.  I will have completed the San Francisco Half It All Challenge series as well as the Disney Coast to Coast Challenge!  I expect 2014 will have even bigger goals than 2013 because both feet will be ready for the challenge!

left foot still slightly swollen at big toe joint and 2nd toe but they
did run 10 miles yesterday! right foot Nov 14!