PRE SHAM SHAM DAY

Welp, tomorrow is race day! The SHAMROCK'N HALF MARATHONG!!!! WOOOOO!

I JUST picked up my packet, and I'm super stoked to get my calorie burnin' on tomorrow. I bought a brand new running hat today that I'll be stylin' in tomorrow (Under Armour, light blue, small bill...the small bill makes it SUPER cute), and I'll be sure to be one of the better looking runners out there. I mean, well, DUH.

Anyway, tonight, I've got a pasta dinner with other fellow runners where we plan to get our awesome grub on at the Spag Fac (The Old Spaghetti Factory).  We'll load up on the fuel tonight and we'll be all set for tomorrow! Tomorrow morning, it'll be a nanner (banana), small cup of coffee, and a GU pack. Food for champions I tell you. And I don't care what other people say, I LOVE GU. I'd eat it even if I didn't have to run. If I were stuck on an island and had to pick one form of food for all of eternity... GU.

Like I said before, my goal for this race is to get a sub 2 hour time and it's been weighing heavily on me these last few days. I'm not sure if I can keep that pace up for 13.1 miles.... regardless, I still plan on running my little heart out.

Anyway, folks, tomorrow is the big day, so let's all get super stoked!! I'm already thinking about what I should eat after the race is over! I'm not sure what it'll be, all I know is, it'll be WHATEVER THE HECK I WANT!!!

Another Race Coming Up...

Hello friends! Long time no blog!!

It's that time again! I've got another race coming up this Sunday, March 13! The Shamrock'n Half Marathong is my next battle, and I've got some new goals and aspirations for this event!

Since the marathong, it's been a bit hard for me to find the motivation to continue training. I mean, I just finished a freakin' marathong, WHAT'S LEFT TO DO?! Ha, jk. Anyway, I've managed to fit in a few good runs for the upcoming race, and I'm actually getting really excited in this last week before the race. There are a bunch of people running it, and I'm really amped. My boss, my running partner, my boss's friend, my running partner's fiance, so many awesome people!

So this week, it's really all about hydrating and eating super healthy. My goal for this race is to get a sub 2 hour time. My last half marathong back in May was a 2:07 finish time, so I'm hoping I can get sub 2hrs. I think I can do it...

I ran with my running partner on Saturday...10 miles. My knees hurt a bit and my arches starting cramping for some reason. I did just start wearing a new pair of shoes, but it's just so weird. I haven't have arch problems since my days in college playing lacrosse. Hopefully they won't give me any problems next Sunday.

Anyway, that's all for now... But here are some pictures from the marathong in Huntington Beach... epic...

So many people at this thing!!! I'm somewhere in the back...

I started running out of poses for the cameras...

YES!! 

There's me at the  bottom left! I FINISHED 26.2 MILES! HOLY SH*T!!

WHAT TIME IS IT!? IT'S GO TIME!

Hello Friends! The big day has come and gone and I have so much to share!!

I'm new at uploading video, but so far, it's been okay. I was able, with the help of my best friend's mom, to capture some good footage of the race that you will all hopefully enjoy. 

My best friend and I arrived at the event a little before 6am and before we knew it, we were off an running. My bestie is so much faster than me, so she started up near the front, whereas I was more in the middle of the pack. The horn sounded and off we went!

I took with me, an AWESOME fanny pack to hold my GU since I couldn't carry 5 GU's with me in my water bottle. I borrowed it from my old running partner, but it was SIIICK. Surprisingly, I didn't get any comments from people around me on race day, but maybe it was just too early in the morning for them to realize how cool it was. Or maybe they were THAT intimidated by me wearing it. 

Anyway, as amazing as the fanny pack was, it was WAY too bouncy around my waist and I had to ditch it near mile 6. Don't worry, I didn't DITCH it ditch it. I just handed it off to my bestie's mom who was kind enough to take it from me. As far as the GU's went, I just ended up eating one less GU (which kind of killed me in the end, but more about that later).

The first 13 miles were fairly easy. No muscle aches, my leg felt great, my pace was decent, and I was over all a happy camper. Everyone around me made it so exciting. I didn't even take my music player with me. I even met a friend while running the first few miles...

And when I say "friend", I mean an semi-annoying man who felt compelled to give me the low down on all marathongs since I was stupid enough to tell him this was my first one. 

"Oh! So this is your first one, huh? How long did you train for? Where are you from? What pace did you train at? Did you train with vita lyte? You know, you shouldn't drink anything you didn't train with. Do you know what a negative split is? Let me tell you..." BLACHGHARGAJ!!!

I'm all for talking while jogging for about 3 miles, but I'M TRYING TO RUN A FREAKIN' MARATHONG HERE MAN! BE A PAL! SHUT UP!

It took a little bit of extra effort on my part not to snap at him. For all I knew, the next 25 miles might be next to THIS guy. I had to keep my cool. I ended up slowing down to let him pass me at one of the water stations and I didn't really see him again... THANK GOODNESS.

By mile 13 I was thinking, "Man, if I were running the halfie, I'd be done... with energy to spare too!" But since I WASN'T doing the halfie, I just kept running. Around mile 17, I started to feel my achilles freak out a little bit.

"No no no no no.... NO!" Regardless of how bad that leg felt, I was determined to keep running. I was just getting SO tired. I ate a GU pack about every 5-5.5 miles and that kept me going fairly well, but around mile 21 I started feeling MISERABLE. 

"Mile 21... okay... less that 6 miles! No biggie, piece of cake." But it wasn't a piece of cake. It was piece of "HOLY SHNYKEES I WANNA DIE". The next 6 miles were the longest 6 miles I have every run. Muscles that I didn't even know I had started hurting. My back, my quads, my knees, EVERYTHING. Slowing down through the water stations was hard too. Starting back up was even harder. 

Around mile 25, I was next to this woman all decked out in LA Marathong gear and she was TALKING ON HER CELL PHONE LIKE IT WAS NO BIG FREAKIN' DEAL THAT SHE WAS RUNNING A MARATHONG! CRAZY! People like that are insane.

Eventually, I saw the beautiful finish line... praying that it wasn't a mirage, my mind told my legs to just move faster. In my mind, I was sprinting through that finish line. In reality, I don't know how slow I was going, but I was putting every last ounce of energy into that finish. 

Of course I stopped at the end to ensure that the camera guy got my picture. I even paused to make sure that there was no one else near by that could steal my thunder. There's NO WAY I was about to share a picture going across that finish line.

BUT I DID IT! I, TIFFANY CHRISTMAS LEE, KNOWN SPRINTER, UNKNOWN DISTANCE RUNNER, FINISHED A MARATHONG! It only took me 4 hours and 18 minutes.... ONLY! :) (My best friend KILLED it with 3:21! She's Boston bound! She was 3rd in our division too!)

I set my mind to it, and although there were huge obstacles along the way, I still completed it! I even received a finisher's medal!

It's been 2 days since the race, and my body is still pissed at me for what I did to it, and although it's still in a state of shock, I'm really glad and proud that I did it. Only a few people ever train and complete a marathong...and I'm one of them! 

_______________________________________

Here is some of the footage I was able to get on race day. Enjoy!

ON OUR  WAY TO THE START! IT'S WAY TOO EARLY! 

By the way, it did NOT smell like farts in the car. 

POST MARATHONG DEBRIEFING WITH T.LEE

(There is another video that goes here that wont' upload and I'm PISSED! When I have more time to figure it out, I'll post it. For now, just imagine me after crossing the finish and screaming, "SWEET BABY JESUS I'M DONE!")

LAST MINUTE THOUGHTS ON THE JOURNEY

Thank you again, to everyone who took the time to read my blog! It's been so fun and I really hope to keep letting people know what I'm up to as far as my active life goes. I've got the Shamrock'n Half Marathong coming up in March so I"ll be sure to let you know how that went!!

Until next time! Keep running!

PRE-RACE DAY

It's the day before the BIG DAY!! I flew down from Sacramento into L.A. and my bestie picked me up at the airport last night. Today, we got out race packets, went to the beach where it was a nice 63 degrees and the sun was a-shinin'!

As said before, I brought my Flip camera down here with me so that I could video blog all of the awesome cool stuff going on before the race and after. I'm pretty much planning on video taping everything because I think people care and it's fun to act like I'm famous. Here are the videos from today.... ENJOY!

On our way to packet pick-up: Me, Beefcake (the best friend), and Bailey (best friend's dog)

THE Mile Marker

T minus 4 days...

4 days until FEBRUARY 6, 2011 6:30am.

I just got an email from the Surf City Marathong people telling me about packet pick up and what not. This $h*t is getting REAL! My 3 miler today was AMAZING. I know it's only 3, but it felt so great. I was running at a good pace, and my body just felt like it could have gone longer.

It was a bit windy, but not at ALL like how it was when I was running in Colorado.... THANK GOD. Just a strong breeze, but nothing to slow me down.

A few people have asked me if I will continue to blog after this whole marathong is over, and I'm actually not quite sure. I've had so much fun hearing feedback from other people, whether on here, or on Facebook and it was really fun to get my thoughts on running down. I DO have other events coming up that I'm sure would make for some GREAT material:

March 13, 2011: Shamrockn' Half Marathong (Sacramento, CA)
April 2, 2011: Warrior Dash (Lake Elsinore, CA)
May 1, 2011: Big Sur Marathong (or half, I don't know yet) (Big Sur, CA)
June 25, 2011: Tough Mudder (Denver, CO) (I don't know if this is for sure yet...)

Good events that would cultivate some good material for the blog, right? And the Warrior Dash and Tough Mudder aren't JUST running events either. They're mud runs that are pretty much these crazy obstacle courses. INSANE. So insane that I don't even know if I'm ready for 'em.... all my friends that are doing them are in the military. I do I keep up with THAT?!

Well, I guess I"ll find a way to survive. Because it's either that, or dying. And dying kind of sucks. Anyway, 4 DAYS LEFT! OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD.... I DON'T WANNA I DON'T WANNA... (SCREAM)

T minus 6 days...

6 days left until the big day! It's all I can think about! I still have go to to the store and get my GU, I still have to get my bottled water for the week (I generally don't buy bottled water because I have a Brita, but at work, there isn't one, and the tap is gross), and I just feel so anxious and excited all at the same time!

I finished a 10 miler today. Not too bad. The first 7 miles felt great. No pain, just a little twinge. Overall, I was very pleased with my run today. It'll probably be the last longer-ish run I'll do before the race. From here on out, I'll just be keeping my legs warm and getting in some 5ers and 3ers, but that's it.

Random side story about my run today. I THINK I SAW JACOB BLACK. YES, FROM TWILIGHT. No, not Taylor Lautner (although I wouldn't mind seeing him...), but I swear... I think I saw a wolf. It was kind of far away, so I wasn't sure how big it was, but it looked very wolf-like. Well, it was either Jacob, or somebody else from the pack.

Anyway...that's all I've got to report on today.... ONLY 6 FREAKIN' DAYS LEFT! I'M FREAKING OUT!

On the Mend

Good news: I've logged in 2 runs since my last entry and although I was slow, I was almost pain free!

I spoke to a college friend the other day who was in the same athletic training program I was in, who is actually a certified athletic trainer now. He gave me a few good suggestions on exercises and stretches I could do to prepare for a run that would help me with my achilles. Let me tell you.... AWESOME. I totally forgot what a REAL stretch could do for the body.... I was able to really open up my stride and I didn't feel so stiff. I was really happy with my last 2 runs.

The bummer about running right now is that a week from today, I'll be on a plane to southern California. I really don't have much time left to train. All the training that I can do now is all under 10 miles and I feel incredibly unprepared for the challenge I plan on taking on next Sunday. I'm slow because I've been off for 2 weeks, and I'm sort of dreading how my body is going to feel when it's all over and done with.

I am SO nervous for this event coming up. I don't know if that's because I feel unprepared, or if it's because it's my first marathong. I was so concerned about my leg and the pain and swelling that I think it really got to my head. I even begged my doctor for some sort of magical injection into my leg so I wouldn't feel the pain for the race. Seriously, I did. She said no. I also begged a friend of mine to mail me some top of the line pain killers, but since it's a felony to mail prescription meds, we had to let that one go too.... It looks like I'll be popping ibuprofen like candy next weekend, but anything to get me through this! (All kidding aside, because I'm sure my mother is reading this and is starting to become concerned that I'm addicted to narcotics, we weren't really going to try and mail meds. But I really DID beg my doc for an injection).

Anyway, I'm definitely "on the mend" and I'm excited/nervous about everything coming up. It should be good!

For Christmas this year, I got a Flip camera (Have you seen those things?! Totally cool video camera!!), and I'm planning on doing a little clip of me and my best friend preparing for the race the night before and then talking about it after. I'm hoping to have someone record us crossing the finish line too, but it'll probably be really crowded. Plus, my bestie will be crossing that finish line about 5 years ahead of me, so the camera might actually run out of batteries. We'll what we can come up with. Should be good. Entertaining at the least....

UNTIL NEXT TIME....