PLANE INTERNET!

That is what I have right now. Yes, I paid $10 for it. But it is so cool!

As you know, I signed up to run my first two half marathons ever two weeks apart. I wasn’t sure if this was considered insane or not, but the runners I know assured me it was a good idea. Non runners, on the other hand, told me I am insane.

I figured I’d already be trained, so I wouldn’t have to train again. And the second half marathon was taking place in my hometown, just 5 minutes from where I grew up. Even cooler — it was the inaugural NYC race of the 13.1 Marathon Series. I just really wanted to do it, so I did.

After my first half marathon, my legs were screaming. I felt the pain starting around mile 9 and it did not go away for a week. I couldn’t walk down stairs; I could barely walk at all! I iced and yoga’ed and rested. A nagging pain in my left knee prevented me from running. Two days before the race, I felt okay enough to try an easy 3 mile run. By the end of this run I had to walk because of the pain in my left knee.

I was very nervous about the half marathon. If I couldn’t run 3 miles, how would I run 13?

I iced and iced. I rested. I took naproxen. The day before the race I packed up and went to Queens to stay with my mom so we could easily drive to the start. Once I got there I realized I forgot to bring my knee sleeves! We drove all over looking for knee sleeves but were unable to find any sports ones (moisture wicking, etc). I tweeted frantically, asking people to assure me I don’t need my knee sleeves. The twitter community made me feel better about the race.

In the morning I drank my green juice and got dressed in a race day outfit that I was very excited about! I wore my brand new running skirt. I also did something that no runner is ever supposed to do: I decided to wear new sneakers that I had never worn before. I know how bad this is. Here’s what happened. When I went to pick up my race packet (in the building where I work! how convenient!) one of their sponsors was there, Karhu running shoes . And they had this little deal… if you try on their shoes, you get entered to win a free trip to Sweden for the 2010 Helsinki Marathon. At first I didn’t try the shoes on, but when I went back later to return something to the store, the thought of a free trip to Sweden to run a MARATHON sounded too cool to pass up.

And then I got sucked in. These shoes are very different, based on a horizontal rather than vertical foot strike. As I wore my Brooks shoe on one foot and a Karhu on the other, it was obvious how I was landing in the center of my foot with the Kahru — which is better for the knees, the toes (yes), and pretty much everything else. It takes a lot of pressure off your legs. Anyway. I ended up walking out of there with new shoes. They look like bigfoot shoes on me, but I’m not trying to win a fashion contest. I did not plan to wear them the day of the race.

But I was worried about my knee. I was worried about my toes. I liked how my foot landed in the middle. The technology made sense. I decided to try them out for the race.

I would not recommend trying new shoes on race day to anyone. That said, I am so glad I did it!

My mom and I got to the park with plenty of time. I used the portapotty twice and we were able to just take our time and explore the booths by the finish. Eventually we made our way over to the start and this guy saw my Lululemon clothes and asked if he could take a picture of my back! I didn’t really understand why, but the next day I found that photo on Lululemon’s Facebook fan page. Haha!

The 5K race started at 9 right on time, and the half marathon started at 9:13, also on time. There was no corral system so that was a little messy but not too bad. As they sang the national anthem a Long Island Railroad train went roaring by. Gotta love NY!

The first mile was pretty good, but slow. I was loving the perfect weather but I wasn’t having a really great run. My knee was feeling fine, but it was just hard. Each mile felt slow. Around mile 3 I stopped on the side to fix my right shoe. I tied it too tight and it was hurting (this is why you should not test new shoes on race day!). Then it was too loose and I had to fix it again. I lost some time there.

The race went all around Flushing Meadow Corona Park, but there were many repetitive loops. When we passed Arthur Asche tennis stadium (where I saw my love, Roger Federer, in September) for the fourth time in the first few miles I stopped being happy to see it and started wanting to see new sights.

In my first half, the first six miles felt really easy. Even though those miles were ran in hilly Central Park, it just felt like an easy run. The first six miles of this half marathon, on the other hand, felt like the exact opposite. It was such a struggle! The course was flat but it was just so hard. My left knee was not hurting at all, which was amazing. My right knee was hurting a little but not too bad.

Even though it was a struggle, when I saw a race photographer crouched on the ground taking pictures of runners I perked up. It was like seeing a good friend! I smiled and waved and the photographer even thanked me, because I really was such a star pupil.

See the Worlds Fair globe thing behind me?? Love it!

After the picture was taken I had a burst of energy and felt great for a minute. Unfortunately, that great feeling didn’t last and I was soon feeling blah again.

Although it did happen again a little later with another photog. He also loved it. I’m a ham.

When we finally got to mile 8, the same spot in the last half where I finally got to leave Central Park, it felt like I was running for hours. I couldn’t believe how difficult it was. I made a great playlist but it didn’t do as much to pump me up as my music did during my last half. Here is my playlist:

There was a big hill going up a ramp to cross over the Grand Central Parkway. It was very hard for me to tackle mentally. Especially because going in the other direction were people who were running back down the hill after having completed a 2.8 mile loop that I had yet to tackle. These people are so fast! I felt so, so slow. I knew I was running slowly but I still had secret hopes of making a good time.

Here’s the only picture that really represents the fact that I was struggling. Also, I didn’t see this camera.

The music was like a party but I just was not in party mode. I heard someone call my name and it was Maggie from Picky and Healthy! We talked on Twitter about how we were both running the race, so I told her exactly what I’d be wearing and she actually spotted me! It was so nice to run into someone I “knew” and we talked for a few minutes before she had to run ahead of me to catch up with her father.

I decided to make a goal of keeping Maggie in my site for as long as possible. It worked for a little while but she kept getting further from me and by the time we had to veer off into muddy grass I had lost her. Oh! Also, there was this part of the course that was blocked off from major flooding from the rain earlier in the week, so we had to detour in the muddy grass. The course was definitely longer than 13.1 miles because of that!

Finally I finished that loop and was going back over the overpass of the Grand Central when I saw Missy in the distance!!! She had a sign, although I couldn’t see what it said. I got so happy when I saw her! I thought she was taking pictures of me but it turned out she was taking a VIDEO:

I love it! I must have watched that video 200 times already!

I was so happy to see Missy and I love how there is a random guy cheering for me too. We had our names on our bibs which I think every long race should do. It turns out lots of people were cheering for me, although I had my music on and didn’t hear it most of the time. It was very nice when I did! At first I was confused and thought someone recognized me from my blog? But then I remembered my name was on the bib.

HI MISSY!!!

Sudden burst of energy there of course. Missy had no idea what a tough time I was having. What can I say, I put on a good show. It turns out Missy saw me when I was first going up that hill to cross the highway and I didn’t see her. And here’s something funny — even though I was having a hard time at that point, especially seeing the hill, Missy said I was smiling! I must have heard something I liked in my music or thought of something funny.

Not long after that, I saw someone walking along the side of the road and it was Missy again! I sped up and started yelling “Missy!!!” or maybe I said “Melissaaa!” reminiscent of the time we sped out of control down the Central Park hills on our rollerblades. I loved seeing her again! I was really confused as to how she got there because I was running for awhile and she was in front of me, but apparently it wasn’t far from where I first saw her.

I knew I was getting close to mile 10 and I knew my mom would likely be waiting to see me there. I just kept pushing through. It was SO HARD. Finally I got to mile 10 and there was my mom! Every time I saw someone I knew I felt so much better, even if it was just for a minute or two.

At mile 10 I thought to myself that I just had the 5k homestretch left. I could do it. I really did consider quitting a couple of times, that is how hard this race was for me. But I would think of Caitlin’s running mantra — Pain is temporary, quitting is forever — and that really helped me get through it. Yes, this two hours sucked but I knew I would feel great after.

Mile 10 took a long time. Mile 11 felt even longer. I just wanted to be finished. Shortly before the mile 12 marker, someone who had finished the race and was walking home saw me having a hard time and told me there isn’t much more left. The words of encouragement were nice.

The last mile. Pushing through. During my first half marathon, my quads and knees were burning as I mentioned, but my legs were not hurting at all on this day. Some thoughts on that later. Even though I wasn’t in any specific pain, my legs were just not holding up so well. Every step was a challenge. At certain points during the race I had to make myself think “left, right, left, right” to remind myself how to run.

I saw the finish line in sight and I also saw Missy again!!! A second later I saw my mom! They were at the finish line cheering me on this last stretch! I sped up to sprint as best as I could, heading towards the finish, wanting to finish strong, when suddenly the course veered off and we were running AWAY from the finish line. What?? The runners spread out here and for a second I thought I ran the wrong way and missed the finish! I stopped for a second to look back, but realized that there was one final semi-circle loop around some water before approaching the finish line from the OTHER side. Uhhhh. What a psyche out.

By this time, I used up any energy I was reserving for the finish at the point I thought was the finish. This last semicircle was so long! I just had to push myself to keep going because I was so close to the end. I was moving so slowly though. I had nothing left in me. Finally, I made my way to the actual finish and, lo and behold, there was Missy again! How did she do it??! She was everywhere I was!

I couldn’t sprint this time. I couldn’t even speed up. My legs were not wanting to move and you can see by this video Missy took of me crossing the finish just how hard it was for me. Those legs look stiff!

But then I crossed the finish and I could stop running! I stopped and right away felt much better. I wasn’t in any pain and was able to walk normally, a drastic difference from my last half. I got my medal which is pretty cool (don’t have a picture right now as I am in Florida but I will share it soon!) and tried to take a bite out of a bagel but had to throw it out. My stomach did not want food.

I chatted with Steve from NYC Runs at their booth and I went up to the Karhy guy who sold me my sneakers to say hi. Then I met up with my mom and Missy and we went out to a diner because I did something very, very bad. . . I FORGOT IHOP EXISTED. Who am I?!! Ugh. I ended up not being able to really eat my french toast because the diner didn’t have real syrup. Corn syrup does not cut it for me.

Anyway! Once I finished I felt amazing! As expected. I was able to run my second half marathon just two weeks after my first! I felt so happy at my accomplishment. My official time is 2:24:18. Quite a bit slower than my first race. My first half tackled 8 hilly miles in Central Park, included a bathroom stop as well as intense knee and quad pain. This race was almost completely flat, no bathroom stops, no pain. Just much, much slower.

It was so nice seeing Missy after the race — and the sign she made for me!

The Hottest Runner DORI = HELL YEAH!

I don’t think my body fully recovered from the first half. I didn’t really get to run in between the two races and I was not physically prepared. Additionally, I was not mentally prepared for this distance. The day before the race I tweeted: “Am I really running a half marathon tomorrow?” I just was not believing it.

As for the fact I had no quad pain and very little knee pain? I think that could be the result of one or a combination of the following:

• My body got used to the distance and does not feel pain at 13 miles
• My new shoes had me landing in the center of my foot, taking strain off my knees and quads
• I bought a marathon stick and used it

I think a combination of the first two is really what helped me. Even though I made sure to have a lot of extra room in the toes with my new shoes, my toe still got pretty beat up and is very black and icky right now. But what can you do?

My thoughts on my second half? It was so hard!! That is all I could say when I finished. But I did finish! I couldn’t run for 20 minutes last June and now I can run 2 half marathons in 2 weeks!

I decided that the next time I run a half marathon (not for a long time!), I will train properly. I did not run nearly enough — almost not at all during the weekdays — and I know I can run faster, stronger and with less pain with better training. I have a race in mind and I will announce it when I know for sure!

I ran two half marathons!!! Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement and advice in comments, Twitter, gchat and email. I started running because of blogs and a desire to exercise outside in the summer, and it has morphed into something I never imagined or thought possible. Now that I have over a week separating me from the 13.1 Marathon, I can tell you how happy I am to have done it and the difficulty is a distant memory. I am on my way back from the Floridas now and I ran 3 days in a row and feel great — each run was easy and fun with no knee pain. I actually didn’t wear my new shoes, so who knows! I’m glad I tried them and will probably incorporate them into more runs until I have a better sense of if they make a difference.

I’ve got a 4 mile race on Sunday where I hope to beat my 4 mile PR (40:00 exactly), but I will not let it get me down if I don’t.

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