Prior to Sunday, I was bummed about not running the marathon. BUT - little did I know how much fun I would have cheering. For a full recount of the weekend, see Heather's blog. Plus, she has all the great pictures...
I'll just add a few additional thoughts. I had a lot of fun going out there and it was wonderful to see how many people seemed excited to see me. It was also quite interesting for me to be on the other side of the curb. Specifically, I was able to see ALL of the participants and really did notice a difference in people. With a few exceptions, those runners who finished in 4:15 or less looked much better than those with slower times. I was amazed at how fresh the 3:40 pace group looked whenever they pasted through mile 24. Makes me want to train harder and get into better shape. I know that being well trained is part of it; however, the more time that one is on the course, the harder it gets. That said, this weekend renewed my quest for the four hour marathon. Suddenly, with a little work, it doesn't seem like its that far off.
Its been a while since I've posted and I need to bring things up to date.
November and December were a strange months for me. After having great runs, things began to quickly go downhill. I just couldn't run very well. On several occasions, my heart rate would inexplicably go up to around 180-190, I'd get dizzy and would experience what I thought was an asthma attack. On December 3, I went to my doctor (a fine GP at the Baylor clinic) and was suddenly in the midst of a full-scale cardio workup. Within two days, I had an EKG, chest x-ray, echocardiogram and started a 48 hour holter monitor. By the way, if you have sensitive skin, a holter monitor is no fun... I looked like I'd been attacked by leeches for the week after the test. Next, on December 15, I had a "fun" test where they do an ultrasound through the esophogus. 
The tests showed that I had a 1 cm hole between the left and right side of my heart (artrial septal defect). The picture shows where the hole was and the difference between the normal heart and one with the defect.
On December 19, I had the procedure done to correct it. Rather than being a 1 cm hole, my cardiologists (another great Baylor doctor and his fellows) determined that the hole was actually 2.2 cm. (which completely explained why i was so symptomatic). I now have a nickel-titanium mesh patch in my heart that closed the hole.
I marvel at modern medicine. My options to fix this were this patch and open heart surgery. One requires weeks (maybe months of recovery) and the other was less than a week. I was able to be released from the hospital in just over 30 hours and was back at work on Monday. It is amazing.
On the afternoon of the procedure, I was already able to breathe better! At first, I thought that it was simply in my mind. However, my cardiologist explained that the right side of my heart and my right lung had been processing 180% of the blood that they should have been - my heart and lung were doing almost twice as much work. I feel so much better now; I am still amazed at the difference.
Running has been phenominal. I have rediscovered my love. Plus, its just a lot easier now. Running by heart rate, my pace is about 30 seconds per mile faster! Who would have thought!
"You are an elite athlete."
Those are words that I never thought I'd hear - not in a million years. But, they were told to me. And, they were told to me by a man with many years of education, who is entrusted to teach others to save lives and the one that I'm trusting with my heart.
I'll take those words and cherish them. If doc tells me that, then they must be true.
He went on to say that I didn't need to line up at the front or have the endorsements; I am elite because I'm committed, determined and I care enough to continue to do it.
Happy training to all my elite athlete friends.
So, since I haven't been running (doctor's orders), what exactly have I been doing with my time? Well, besides working more, home renovations... pictures will be posted shortly.
It is official. No marathon for me.
I tell myself that I don't need both a half ironman and a marathon in the same year to make me happy.
It is frustrating. I have been running (although not blogging).
I wanted to do well and I was on track. Alas, it is not meant to be.
I am officially obsessing over 2 minutes and 30 seconds (truthfully, maybe about 4 minutes). My plan was to run the race at marathon pace; however, after a difficult run on Wednesday, I was questioning my ability to run at the necessary 9:45 pace. To quickly explain, for some reason, on Wednesday I was struggled to run a 30:30 three miler. I was breathing hard and almost drenched with sweat - I was seriously working hard and thought that I was at least running 9 minute miles (if not better). When I hit the three mile mark, I was shocked to see 30:30 staring back at me.
Fast forward to Sunday, I didn't think that I could even maintain a 10:00/mile pace in the race. I decided to just give it a go and see what happened. I was hoping that I could at least finish in 2:10 or less and I think that the math was there but something was off. The trusty Garmin said that I ran 13.3 miles - which, if that is correct, explains my 2 minutes. But, I don't think that it was off this much. Throughout the race, I could never get the miles markers to match with the Garmin. Could not running some of the tangents have made me this off?
I also realized that I run much better whenever I'm running with someone - especially, if I think that they are relying on me to pace them. For the first two loops, I had a partner. I ended up leaving her a bit on the last loop and boy was it hard. I then tried to pick people off - but then, that got discouraging as a few people blew past me.
Mentally, I was in this race. I walked the water stops and not really anything else. It was interesting to see just how many people were walking that last loop and I was determined not to walk. I wanted to finish in under 2:10 - just didn't quite make it.
Now, after doing a bit of math and looking at the computer generated pace charts, I need to run the Turkey Trot 10k in 54:00 minutes to be on track for my marathon goal. Anyone up for some 8:30s at the Turkey Trot? I think I'll need a bit of help.
