Saturday, November 17, 2007

For My Daughter

Phase II - Regressive Count - Week Two
11/13/07 - 11/19/07
Week Total: 21.1

This week's blog had conflicting titles until I read "For my mom" written by my beautiful daughter Alejandra.

I will always immensely thank her for bringing me back to running. Our plan of running a marathon together being 7,440 miles apart was a beautiful plan and we enjoyed it. Some sad circumstances occurred two months ago that prevented Ale of continuing with her training, but even though she is not running, she is still running with me, because she is in my heart, in my thoughts, and in every fiber of my body every mile I go.

Alejandra, you don't have
to wait for that phone call once I cross the finish line on November 25th because
I will cross the line with you on the phone. I love you, daughter of mine. Thanks for being who you are.

Last Week of Training and Bye Bye DC.

This was my last week of training and it was pretty good. It happened to be in DC, where I said bye bye but only for 2007, as I expect to come back for the first part of next year.

I did my best 8 miles on Thursday in the treadmill (my work hours in DC don't give me room for running during daylight with my
Iwo Jima guys). My 10 miles on Saturday, back in Seattle were really good. The conditions were perfect: Under constant rain. After mile 0.2 my shoes were absolutely soaked, so I was. I did part of the marathon route from Interlaken to Lake Washington Blvd 5 miles and back. I got some of the hilly part of the marathon and went slow all the time as did not want to risk anything. My knees DIDN'T and DON'T HURT AT ALL. I believe several things have helped: 1) I got rid of the superfeet. 2) I bought 54" shoelaces and I can play with the "tightness" by the insteps. The pain in this part of the feet has disappeared. 3) I have been in glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM for 2 months now. So because one of these reasons, or the combo, my knees and feet are painless!!!!!

Next week I have just a couple of easy 3o minutes and then on Sunday 25th, The Big Miler, 26.2. The weather forecasts temp around 42-43 (not that bad) and scattered showers (what's new).

I will be well rested because the Thanksgiving Holidays, and the only plan I have for the Holidays is going to the Expo
on Friday .

Please, wish me luck. Seattle hills scare me, especially those miserably located between mile 20 and 23, that are the same I did today, but a different story is doing them at mile 8 than at mile 20. My realistic time in a flat course is around 6 hrs, so, I could forecast a little more than that, but
my goal is to finish the marathon. That's it. Just finish it.

51! My life without blinking

I am 51 TODAY! It is my birthday. My life in a nutshell? I am as happy as I could be, I love my husband and my kids. I love my life and I spend every second without blinking, because "a hundred years goes faster than you think".

God, thanks for my life.





My B'day with my son Diego and his girlfriend Shelly, and my favorite dish: Pasta. P
er saecula saeculorum (Forever and ever!!!)

13 comments:

Petraruns said...

LizzieLee - great post. You sound like you're in great shape, in great spirits and generally ready... We will be with you - can we follow your progress online? Just don't let taper madness get to you these last 7 days..

ShirleyPerly said...

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Secondly, I wish you the best of luck with your marathon. It's wonderful to hear that you've worked through the knee and foot pain issues. The adrenaline during the race will carry you much further than you've ever gone in a training run. Remember to write your name on the front of your shirt and start out slow. Think now of your mental strategy to get over those hills late in the race (a mantra or thought to keep you going strong). Of course, we will all be rooting for YOU!!

Petraruns said...

Tag - you're it! Check out my most recent blog post if you're not sure how to do a meme - Shirley tagged me and now it's your turn! Have fun!

Susan said...

You are sooooo ready for that race! Those hills will be done before you know it. You are READY!

Happy Birthday!!! Your marathon is on my b-day, so I will be sending you good vibes!

Maddy said...

Good Luck! You are going to do great!

Happy Birthday! It looks like your dinner was a blast!

And I have also tagged you! You're it!

Journey to a Centum said...

LizzieLee,

I've run Seattle twice. Relax about the hills already. You will do fine. The hills will be a welcomed break after the flat sections on the bridge, around the park, and along the lake. Remember that there is no rule against walking on the really steep hills. Keep that constant forward motion going!

Tear it up!

Eric

MarathonChris said...

You sound like you are so ready for this race!!! I can't believe it is coming up this week.

Sounds like all systems are go. Relax, enjoy the holiday, and get ready for a great race. We will all be tracking / thinking of you!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! My youngest is also a Scorpio - her birthday is today (the 20th).

MarathonChris said...

You sound like you are so ready for this race!!! I can't believe it is coming up this week.

Sounds like all systems are go. Relax, enjoy the holiday, and get ready for a great race. We will all be tracking / thinking of you!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! My youngest is also a Scorpio - her birthday is today (the 20th).

MarathonChris said...

And Happy Thanksgiving to you too! So many things to be thankful for :-)

MarathonChris said...

One more thing - as I noticed from your post to Shirley's blog - enjoy your Thanksgiving - although you will be by yourself, you won't be alone. I am sure you family will be with you in spirit.

Happy Thanksgiving!

ShirleyPerly said...

I hope you have an enjoyable Thanksgiving. Taking care of nothing sounds WONDERFUL right now to me!

Backofpack said...

Happy Birthday! What a great way to start your 51st year - with a marathon!

You are going to be just fine. I was worried about those hill too, but they didn't seem that bad once we got to them. There was one really short and steep one that I remember walking up, but the rest were good. You are trained for them and you will do GREAT!

Have a grand Thanksgiving and we'll be watching for your race report!

JeffM said...

Happy Birthday!!
I'll be doing the half in Seattle. Four of us are driving up Saturday for packet pickup and expo. Heard there a lot of hills- oh well, it's supposed to be a fun run as a group.