Training Again

Well, I decided to train for another marathon. I am training with Bay Area Fit, which is affiliated with USA Fit. USA Fit is a national organization that has groups all over the country who train for local marathons together.

My group is training near my house (which is fantastic...don't have to drive so far!!) on Saturday mornings. It is a pretty good deal. I paid a small fee and get tips, newsletters, and lectures every Saturday from local experts, PLUS the accountability of meeting up at least once a week to train with the group (our group has 300 people signed up). Last Saturday, a doctor talked to us about the physiology of running. It was pretty cool!

This Saturday, we're running 6 miles. Should be fun!

I Beat My PR!!!

I ran in the 8th Annual Sprint for Life at MD Anderson benefiting Ovarian cancer research on May 7, 2005. It was a 5K with TONS of people. The weather was great...cool and breezy and overcast (sun = HOT for those of you non-runners!). I have been sick the past week, but I was already signed up, so I went ahead and ran it anyway.

And I finished in 28:08. My previous best 5K time was 29:07...I beat my previous PR by almost a minute. I am so excited!

Run for the Son 5K Fun Run

Well, I won another race! OK, I didn't exactly break the finish line tape. But, I did win first place in my age group. It was at the Friendswood United Methodist Church 2nd Annual Run for the Son on March 19, 2005. I finished in 29:40, which is 33 seconds over my PR (personal record) of 29:07!

The race was a good one...about 200 runners. We ran through a neighborhood near the church in Friendswood. It was a family celebration for Palm Sunday weekend and there was breakfast and lots of kids activities.

The only thing that went wrong is that both of my shoes came untied just a half mile before the finish. I could tell that I was going to have a good finish time, so I refused to stop and tie them. So, I ran kicking my feet out so I wouldn't trip. Fortunately, I didn't trip. But who knows how well I might have done if that hadn't happened?!?!?

I didn't get to stay around for the awards presentation, so my friend Kate (who helped organize the race) brought me my winner's plaque the next week. It's really nice and is proudly on display in my office!

Conoco Philips Rodeo Run 10K

I ran the Rodeo Run 10K on Saturday, February 26th. It was a pretty cool race. There was a parade immediately after the race, so there were a lot of people on the course. Unfortunately, I was not ready for hills and the course went over an overpass that had two separate inclines, plus we went over the overpass twice (out and back)...translation four hills! I got pretty tired and had to walk about 1/4 mile just before mile 5. But, I finished. My chip time was 1:06:14, which is decent for me. It was a cool, overcast day...perfect for a race. Can't wait to do it again!

Pictures from the race are on brightroom.com (here's the link to my picture...it's just fantastic :)
http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_photo.asp?EVENTID=6200&PWD=&ID=12948958&FROM=photos&BIB=956)

Texas Med Center 5K

I ran the Texas Med Center 5K on January 29. I finished in 30:04, which is good for me. I'm trying to work my speed back up after the marathon.

My very amusing picture is at:

http://www.karenthibodeaux.com/EventMain.asp?event=190&websess=79729383574346

(Bib # 503).

Check out race photos...

Marathon pictures are online...look how terrible I look!!

http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=4353&BIB=9114

What makes me a runner?

I have a confession to make...the truth is, I’m not really a runner.

I’m not built for it. I don’t thrive on it. I don’t live for it. I’m not any good at it. And, truth be told, I kind of dread it. It takes a lot of preparation and discipline. It takes a lot of time. Other people think you're insane for being so dedicated. And, I'm really lazy!

So, why do I get up early on Saturday mornings to beat the heat and the traffic? Why do I spend inordinate amounts of money on shoes and clothes and accessories just for running (Timex Speed+Distance system is the coolest thing ever invented, even if it does make me a nerd)? Why do I shake my head violently when my podiatrist suggests that I try some other form of cardio? Why do I cringe when people say that I'm a "jogger"? Why don't I just give up?

Well, I think I'm trying to prove myself wrong... See, I started running on September 15, 2002. I couldn't make it around the quarter mile track. I didn't have a coach. And, other than my dad, I didn't really know anyone that ran much. I knew that this was just going to be a phase...I would run for a while, then get bored with it and go back to being a couch potato.

But I had decided that I was going to run a mile without stopping...that's four laps around the track and I could only run a half lap. I thought I was going to die! And that was in the "fall" (as though we have fall in south Texas), not the heat of the summer. I didn't really believe that I could ever do it. But I kept going to the track and running/walking, not sitting on the couch at home watching TV all day long.

After over two months, I worked up to a mile, then a mile and a half, then two miles. I had a system (I love a good system!). I would add a small amount of distance every time I went to the track. I had to stay there until I finished the distance. Since I'm such an impatient person, I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, so adding running distance was quicker than adding walking distance. The cool thing at the track is that you can leave a bottle of water on the edge and stop every couple of miles to swig some and get refreshed. I finally worked my way up to six miles...that's 24 laps...and it was getting a little boring going around in circles so much.

One Saturday morning, I went to the track and there was a track meet going on...with people in the stands. As much as I like company, I didn't really want a crowd watching me run around the track 24 times! So, I immediately became a road runner. I mapped out my route and ran the whole six miles on the roads around my apartment. I had to make an adjustment, though. I had to start carrying a bottle of water with me...yikes! What was I going to do? Well, I just did it. I ran the whole six miles with a water bottle in my hand. I wasn't going to try to run without any water! Up until then, everything had to be perfect for me to run. If the batteries on my MP3 player were out, I'd go back home and get new batteries. If the right running clothes weren't clean, I wouldn't go until I had them clean to run in. That was the first day that I felt like I could manage any curve that was thrown my way and still run. I have run that route so many times! It's the best distance to run. A good challenge but I can get through it in a little more than an hour (or less on a good day!). So, I felt a little close to being a "runner" that day.

After two more years, here I am, 36 races later (including one on an airport runway and one that ended by running through a 30-foot puddle during a rain storm with 29 degree temperatures!), and I still feel like I'm a phony...

How can I, Jenny Ortis...who broke her glasses in seventh grade because she couldn't hit the volleyball and got hit in the face...who was tagged for the final out of the softball season by stepping on the softball because she didn't know that would count as "out"...who was ALWAYS picked last for the team in PE...who fell off the balance beam during gymnastics in seventh grade PE (not a good year for me)...how can I be a runner?

Because that's the thing...I can be a runner if I choose to be. Nobody else gets to tell me whether or not I'm a runner. I just have to put one foot in front of the other and I'm a runner. That's it...there's no magic, no technique, no picking teams. It's all up to me. Nobody else can do it for me. No amount of cheering or guilt can make me do it. I have to make the choice. So, since I have chosen to run, maybe I am a runner. I guess I've finally proven myself wrong.

Now, if I could just figure out how to cook rice...that seems to be more of a challenge for me!

How was the race? Fantastic!

As you know, I raised money for and trained with the American Stroke Association's Train to End Stroke (TTES) program. The shuttle took us from the hotel to the race starting line and we arrived around 6:15. Start time wasn't until 7:40. There are so many runners (almost 30,000), so they organize us into corrals (mooooo!) based on our estimated finish time. I was in corral 9 with several of my fellow TTES'ers, so we stuck together after we got off the bus. We ran a 10-minute warmup and did our stretching, then checked our gear bags onto a UPS van to be delivered to the finish line, which was in Tempe (start was in Phoenix).

The weather was perfect. In the low 50’s at the start and the high that day was 62…I couldn’t have asked for a better day to run! The sky was clear and the scenery along some parts of the course was beautiful…mountain ranges against a crisp blue sky. If I wasn’t already out of breath, it would have taken my breath away.

So, back to the race…we headed to our corral about 7:00 and just stood there. Since we were running with TTES, we had on the official TTES "singlet" and there were lots of other TTES'ers in our corral. It was neat to talk to them about how their group trained and what got them involved in TTES. A few minutes before the start, we were addressed by the mayor of Phoenix and Senator John McCain (his wife ran with TTES). The Star-Spangled Banner was sung and then we were off...

...well, "off" isn't the best description. There were LOTS of us, so it was more like we just stood there for a while longer, then, after a few minutes, we were off. I crossed the start line four minutes after the official race start. I don’t think that I was ever really nervous. Or maybe I was and I just didn’t let myself think about it. At any rate, I felt fine as we got started.

The first few miles were pretty crowded with runners and we were in downtown Phoenix, so there weren't that many spectators. I had my GPS watch on, so I was watching our pace and we were running our planned pace of 11:00 (that's eleven minutes per mile). Our pattern was to run two miles, walk a half mile. We kept up that pattern through mile fifteen, which is great!

There wasn't much excitement to speak of at the beginning. As we got into the race, there were lots of people cheering for us, and band and cheer squads along the route to break up the monotony. I had written my name on my singlet, so people would cheer my name, which was really motivating!

There is a huge flag at every mile marker with just the mileage number on it. Those are the best things you'll ever see when you're running to get to them. They were huge, so you could see them from a ways off. My training partner, Barb, saw them first at every mile and then I would start looking. At the 10K point (6.2 miles), there was a sign, and I thought "There are twenty more miles to go. TWENTY MORE MILES!!!!!" But it didn't stop me.

We made it the half marathon marker in just over two-and-a-half hours, only a little bit longer than it took me to finish the half marathon last year, so I felt great about our time. Then, I started to get tired. You know, if you let yourself think about it, you start thinking things like “Fifteen miles really seems long enough...can't we just stop now?” But, I didn't want to voice those thoughts to Barb. I was thinking it would discourage her. So, we just kept going.

At mile 18, our Coach met us and brought us food. It was the best food I've ever eaten. There were people along the course for most of the second half of the race that were handing us food, which was great! You don't realize that you need food until you start to eat it and then it is sooo good. I haven’t taken that much food from strangers since I went trick-or-treating as a kid!

At mile 23, we caught up with a guy who was running for Team in Training, which supports the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He was struggling a little bit and his Team in Training coach was talking to him. On the back of his shirt, it said “I Miss You, Lucy.” I just about lost it. Barb said, “Don’t start crying.” I responded, “I am beyond emotional control, now!” Which was totally true. However, I guess my body didn’t have any tears to spare because I didn’t cry.

Just before mile 24, there was a water station where people were spraying the runners with water. It wasn’t hot or anything, but, man, that felt great! I looked pretty pitiful…I was kind of begging the kids to spray me…anything to help me through the last few miles.

Once we got to mile 25, I was thinking, “I’m really going to finish this…that’s insane.” We ran the last ¾ of a mile and crossed the finish line in 5 hours, 37 minutes, 27 seconds. We met our teammates, stretched (VERY IMPORTANT), then got back on the bus to the hotel.

At that point in time, I would have sworn to you that I’ll never do another full marathon. But, the further away from the race I get, the more I think, “Well, maybe just one more…to improve my time.” We’ll see…

Thanks for your support and for taking the time to read about my race!

How was the trip? Pretty neat...

As you know, I raised money for and trained with the American Stroke Association's Train to End Stroke (TTES) program. We flew out as a group and stayed at the same hotel. Since we were with the group, we didn't rent a car and had to rely on shuttle services that TTES had arranged for us.

So, we flew out of Houston at, like, the crack of dawn on Friday, January 7. We got to Phoenix and our shuttle took us to our hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel rooms weren't going to be ready for like four or five hours. But, our industrious coach, Bobby, found a friend who could drive us to the Marathon Expo in his van (ominous music goes here). We were sooo appreciative of the ride, but it really was comical. There were 10+ grown adults in the back this van that had no seats. We were laughing the whole half hour trip!

So, we went to the Expo and got our race packets. If you've never been to one of these things, they are way cool! We picked up our race packets (my bib number was 9114!) and our timing chips, then proceeded to look around. There are always tons of vendors selling stuff. I realized that I had not brought anything that was warm to wear before the race, so I bought a neat dry-weave T-shirt that says "Runners Rock." I love it! After the Expo, we headed back to the hotel. We were wiped out! We walked to an Italian restaurant for dinner that night and then pretty much did nothing.

Saturday morning, we got up for a training run. We only did two miles, but it was nice to get acclimated to the air (so much less humidity than south Texas!) and the temperature (perfect!). After the training run, we pretty much did nothing again all day. We walked to the mall to eat lunch (Ruby Tuesday's has a great menu for those watching your diet), but didn't do any shopping because we wanted to save our feet for race day.

Saturday night, we headed over to the TTES Pasta Party, which was at a beautiful hotel that was somewhere in Phoenix (since I wasn't driving, I have no clue where anything was the whole weekend). The pasta was decent and the crowd was HUGE!!! TTES had 850 runners participating! The Stroke Hero who spoke was a man named Ray who suffered from a stroke in 1994. He is a supporter of the TTES program and completed a full marathon in 2001. He was very funny! After the Pasta Party, we headed back to the hotel to (try to) go to sleep. Remember when you were a kid and you were so excited about something (like family vacation or the first day of the school year) that you couldn't sleep? Well, that's how I felt. Very antsy. I finally fell asleep around 11:00 and we got up at 4:30. We set three different alarms to wake us up...and they did their job!

So, we got up, got ready, and went to our Coach's room for breakfast (I had a banana, in case you were curious), then headed out to the shuttle to the race (see "How was the race? Fantastic!" for race details).

After the race, we lounged around the hotel, then headed back to the other hotel for our Victory Party. By this time, though, I was worn out and got on the first shuttle back to our hotel.

Monday, our flight wasn't until 4:30, so we pretty much did nothing around the hotel (are you detecting a theme?) until it was time to pack up and head to the airport. Then, back to the real world!