I'm Jillian,this is my journey from a morbidly obese woman to endurance athlete
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Race Report-Jacksonville Bank Marathon
Well, I'm officially a marathon finisher, the race had it's ups and downs, but I am so happy I am at a point in my life where I can complete a marathon.
Woke up at 2 am after 3 hours of restless sleep. Had a Click shake to wake up, woke everyone else up and we all started getting ready. It was me, my husband Joel, our 2 girls, and Loraine. Oh, the 2 weenie dogs went too. 2 and a half hour drive to race site, had a snickers marathon bar and a banana on the way, along with a whole bottle of G2. Got to the race site right as packet pick-up began, picked up packet, put chip on my shoe, and number on my race belt. The weather forecast said it was going to be sunny in the mid to upper 50's, it stayed in the low 40's and drizzly in the morning and throughout the whole race. I was not dressed for the weather. I had on running shorts and a long sleeve tech shirt, so I was really cold.
I felt under prepared for this race. I had injured my foot at the half marathon on Thanksgiving and had to take 2 weeks off of running and had to skip a 20 mile training run. Before the injury I did 2 18 mile training runs, I think that might have been just enough to get through this race.
After peeing a few time I waited at the start line for the race to start. It was a marathon and a half marathon so there were a lot of runners. The gun went off, it took me a little over a minute to cross the start line and my race began. The first 3 miles had us turn-a-round and pass the start line area again, so Joel stayed at the start line to see me run by, he was cheering and holding up a sign for me. It was nice to see him, after this I wouldn't see a familiar face until the finish line.
Despite not being able to run as much as I had wanted to the past few weeks, I felt pretty good. The first 21 mile I kept my pace under 10 minutes. I had to stop to pee at mile 11 but I got it done in 20 seconds and that mile was still under 10 minutes with the port-a-potty stop. At mile 22 it started to hurt, bad. Mile 22-26 I kept my pace between 10:12 and 10:25, my mind wanted to go faster but my body wouldn't do it. My legs were really hurting and I fought everything I had not to start walking, I won that one. I took a gel at mile 7, 14, and 21, which worked out pretty good. The gels gave me gastric distress after the race,but at least it didn't happen during the race, I will have to try different gels before the next big race.
The race was set up to where you enter a high school stadium and run on half of a high school track to the finish line, an announcer calls your name as you enter the stadium. As soon as I entered the stadium, my group spotted me and started shouting, cheering, and ringing cowbells. It was Joel, our girls, Loraine, and one of my buddies from the Army, Lorraine, who lives in Jacksonville (we call her, "the other Lorraine). It was so awesome to see everyone, my legs hurt so bad, and seeing them put a big smile on my face. I gave them a big smile and a wave, and crossed the finish line. My finishing time was 4:17:00. I was given a finishers medal, I was shivering but they were out of Mylar blankets. I found everyone and got my big hugs, and everyone told me how proud they are. Getting my hugs and kisses from Joel for the first time after a big race meant so much, I missed him s much while he was deployed, and always wished he could be at a race. Loraine saw I was shivering, and gave me my jacket, I was so happy she though to bring it, since I was so cold and shivering. She then informed me that a bunch of the half marathon people had taken 2-3 Mylar blankets, so its no wonder they ran out.
I hobbled back to the truck with everyone. It was hard to leave because I wanted to catch up with Lorraine, since it's been so long since I have seen her. I was so tired and my legs felt like they were going to cave in from under me, so we agreed to meet up again when our schedules will allow. I put on my calf sleeves for the 2 and a half hour drive home, Joel drove since I didn't think I had it in me to even push on the gas pedal lol.
Overall I am happy with how I did with the circumstances of coming back from an injury. I feel that if I didn't get injured I could have done a little better. My only goal coming into this race was to finish without walking any of it, which I did. There is nothing wrong with walking in a marathon, just for me, I didn't want to do it. I will be doing the Savannah Rock 'n' Roll marathon next year in November, a few months after Ironman Louisville, so it will be neat to see the difference a year will make. Here are a few pics from the marathon.
Woke up at 2 am after 3 hours of restless sleep. Had a Click shake to wake up, woke everyone else up and we all started getting ready. It was me, my husband Joel, our 2 girls, and Loraine. Oh, the 2 weenie dogs went too. 2 and a half hour drive to race site, had a snickers marathon bar and a banana on the way, along with a whole bottle of G2. Got to the race site right as packet pick-up began, picked up packet, put chip on my shoe, and number on my race belt. The weather forecast said it was going to be sunny in the mid to upper 50's, it stayed in the low 40's and drizzly in the morning and throughout the whole race. I was not dressed for the weather. I had on running shorts and a long sleeve tech shirt, so I was really cold.
I felt under prepared for this race. I had injured my foot at the half marathon on Thanksgiving and had to take 2 weeks off of running and had to skip a 20 mile training run. Before the injury I did 2 18 mile training runs, I think that might have been just enough to get through this race.
After peeing a few time I waited at the start line for the race to start. It was a marathon and a half marathon so there were a lot of runners. The gun went off, it took me a little over a minute to cross the start line and my race began. The first 3 miles had us turn-a-round and pass the start line area again, so Joel stayed at the start line to see me run by, he was cheering and holding up a sign for me. It was nice to see him, after this I wouldn't see a familiar face until the finish line.
Despite not being able to run as much as I had wanted to the past few weeks, I felt pretty good. The first 21 mile I kept my pace under 10 minutes. I had to stop to pee at mile 11 but I got it done in 20 seconds and that mile was still under 10 minutes with the port-a-potty stop. At mile 22 it started to hurt, bad. Mile 22-26 I kept my pace between 10:12 and 10:25, my mind wanted to go faster but my body wouldn't do it. My legs were really hurting and I fought everything I had not to start walking, I won that one. I took a gel at mile 7, 14, and 21, which worked out pretty good. The gels gave me gastric distress after the race,but at least it didn't happen during the race, I will have to try different gels before the next big race.
The race was set up to where you enter a high school stadium and run on half of a high school track to the finish line, an announcer calls your name as you enter the stadium. As soon as I entered the stadium, my group spotted me and started shouting, cheering, and ringing cowbells. It was Joel, our girls, Loraine, and one of my buddies from the Army, Lorraine, who lives in Jacksonville (we call her, "the other Lorraine). It was so awesome to see everyone, my legs hurt so bad, and seeing them put a big smile on my face. I gave them a big smile and a wave, and crossed the finish line. My finishing time was 4:17:00. I was given a finishers medal, I was shivering but they were out of Mylar blankets. I found everyone and got my big hugs, and everyone told me how proud they are. Getting my hugs and kisses from Joel for the first time after a big race meant so much, I missed him s much while he was deployed, and always wished he could be at a race. Loraine saw I was shivering, and gave me my jacket, I was so happy she though to bring it, since I was so cold and shivering. She then informed me that a bunch of the half marathon people had taken 2-3 Mylar blankets, so its no wonder they ran out.
I hobbled back to the truck with everyone. It was hard to leave because I wanted to catch up with Lorraine, since it's been so long since I have seen her. I was so tired and my legs felt like they were going to cave in from under me, so we agreed to meet up again when our schedules will allow. I put on my calf sleeves for the 2 and a half hour drive home, Joel drove since I didn't think I had it in me to even push on the gas pedal lol.
Overall I am happy with how I did with the circumstances of coming back from an injury. I feel that if I didn't get injured I could have done a little better. My only goal coming into this race was to finish without walking any of it, which I did. There is nothing wrong with walking in a marathon, just for me, I didn't want to do it. I will be doing the Savannah Rock 'n' Roll marathon next year in November, a few months after Ironman Louisville, so it will be neat to see the difference a year will make. Here are a few pics from the marathon.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
I Forgot To Mention The Biggest News Of All Yesterday
In my blog post yesterday I forgot to mention something really important. On December 7th I finally pulled the trigger and registered for Ironman Louisville! I had been going back and forth on this decision for months, and after really talking it over with Joel, I have his support, and got the go-ahead. The race is on August 28, 2011 in Louisville, KY. I have already made hotel reservations in Jeffersonville, IN, about 2 miles from the host hotel. I choose this hotel because the host hotel was really expensive, and the hotel we are staying at has a military discount. We are still trying to work out logistics, like which grandma is coming here to stay with the girls and dogs. We don't want to take the girls, they are too young to really understand the event, and that's a really long day for them, on race day they will be 2 and almost 5.
I am really excited about the race! This race is my dream. I can't wait to cross that finish line and hear Mike Riley call my name and say "You are and IRONMAN!"I have a lot of training to get done in the next few months, but I have picked a great training plan to follow and I am anxious to start it. Its a 20-week plan that will start in April. I will do this!
I am really excited about the race! This race is my dream. I can't wait to cross that finish line and hear Mike Riley call my name and say "You are and IRONMAN!"I have a lot of training to get done in the next few months, but I have picked a great training plan to follow and I am anxious to start it. Its a 20-week plan that will start in April. I will do this!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
My Sweetie Is Home, And The Marathon Is On
It has been a whirlwind of activity around here lately. My husband Joel returned home from Iraq early Thursday morning. He came in around 3:30 AM, about 4 hours later then he was originally scheduled to. It was so cold out there, it was so cold it hurt. I hadn't been that cold since I was in the Army, you know, where they force you to stand around in the frigid cold for no apparent reason. My 4 year old was whining and crying, since she was so cold, so tired, and just wanted daddy. My 19 month old did fine. We were finally reunited, and everyone was happy, and cold.
Friday morning I felt up to running again, and I hardly have any more foot pain. It had been 2 weeks since I last ran. Joel ran with me, we have been together almost 6 years and it was our first time running together. It was really nice having a running partner, especially since it was my sweetie. We ran 5 miles and it felt good to run again. He is going to run with me as long at the distance is 6 miles or shorter. I will be building up again after the marathon, so I will have him as a running partner for the first few weeks, and the days I have a short run scheduled.
I have no more pain in my foot, so I will be running the Jacksonville Bank Marathon on Sunday, my first marathon. I have already been assigned a race number, 339. The race organizers will be tracking all the runner on their website so people at home can use a runner's bib number to track them, there are timing mats at mile 5, 10, 13, 20, and the finish line. I am so excited to have Joel, Loraine, and the girls there cheering me on. I think I will be needing the extra encouragement once I hit the wall, wherever that happens to be.
Words can't fathom how happy I am to have my Joel home. A year is a long time. Me and the girls missed him so much. We are looking forward to his 30 day vacation to spend it together as a family. We have a lot of catching up to do. Here is a pic we took together around 4:30 am Thursday morning, shortly after we got home.
Friday morning I felt up to running again, and I hardly have any more foot pain. It had been 2 weeks since I last ran. Joel ran with me, we have been together almost 6 years and it was our first time running together. It was really nice having a running partner, especially since it was my sweetie. We ran 5 miles and it felt good to run again. He is going to run with me as long at the distance is 6 miles or shorter. I will be building up again after the marathon, so I will have him as a running partner for the first few weeks, and the days I have a short run scheduled.
I have no more pain in my foot, so I will be running the Jacksonville Bank Marathon on Sunday, my first marathon. I have already been assigned a race number, 339. The race organizers will be tracking all the runner on their website so people at home can use a runner's bib number to track them, there are timing mats at mile 5, 10, 13, 20, and the finish line. I am so excited to have Joel, Loraine, and the girls there cheering me on. I think I will be needing the extra encouragement once I hit the wall, wherever that happens to be.
Words can't fathom how happy I am to have my Joel home. A year is a long time. Me and the girls missed him so much. We are looking forward to his 30 day vacation to spend it together as a family. We have a lot of catching up to do. Here is a pic we took together around 4:30 am Thursday morning, shortly after we got home.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Injured And Anxious
I was in a lot of foot pain after the half marathon on Thanksgiving. I saw a doctor, and got no diagnosis, just that is it not broken, and its not a stress fracture. I was told not to run for at least a week, and to stop running if I feel the pain again. Not running has been driving me nuts. My foot does hurt, fortunately though yesterday was my first day of not limping, and today I hardly had any pain. I might be able to try a short run next week. All this couldn't have come at a worse time, with my first marathon being 14 days away.
Since I can't run, and its not my prerogative to sit around and do nothing, I have really been ramping up the time on the bike trainer and time in the pool swimming. Doing those two things doesn't hurt my foot. Wednesday I did a 2000 meter swim. It was a real confidence booster, since that is a little longer than the swim at a half ironman, and I swam it way under the swim cut-off time for a half iornman. So now I know I will be ok in my first half ironman in May.
Now for the anxious part, my husband Joel is days away from coming home from his deployment to Iraq. I can't even put into words how excited I am. He left only 4 weeks after my surgery, and its been a really long year. He has been my biggest supporter from afar this whole year, and now he will finally be able to support me here, standing next to me. I can't wait for that first embrace and kiss, so much has happened since the last time we embraced and kissed. I love him so much.
Since I can't run, and its not my prerogative to sit around and do nothing, I have really been ramping up the time on the bike trainer and time in the pool swimming. Doing those two things doesn't hurt my foot. Wednesday I did a 2000 meter swim. It was a real confidence booster, since that is a little longer than the swim at a half ironman, and I swam it way under the swim cut-off time for a half iornman. So now I know I will be ok in my first half ironman in May.
Now for the anxious part, my husband Joel is days away from coming home from his deployment to Iraq. I can't even put into words how excited I am. He left only 4 weeks after my surgery, and its been a really long year. He has been my biggest supporter from afar this whole year, and now he will finally be able to support me here, standing next to me. I can't wait for that first embrace and kiss, so much has happened since the last time we embraced and kissed. I love him so much.
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