Jodi’s Running Blog

Today’s run is what a marathon training run should be - enjoyable, tiring, tough, intriguing, refreshing…just an awesome experience. I drove to Charlotte’s Ballantyne region, figuring a more upscale community might care enough to make sidewalks readily available for runners not wishing to dodge traffic. The area consisted of rolling hills, just enough to leave my legs feeling a bit sore, and the car horns of support assisted in pushing me through tougher uphill stretches. I had planned on a gentle four mile run, and found when I measured my distance that I had actually covered six! I can honestly say 2004’s final run was a positive experience.

Tomorrow 2005 begins - the year of my first London Marathon. This is also the year where I will graduate from medical school, move at least 700 miles away, begin my neurology residency, and run my final Cooper River Bridge Run across Charleston’s old bridge. This will be a very significant year in my life, and I expect running will play a large role in it.

Goal: Finish London Marathon in less than 4 hours

Countdown: 108 days

Today is a beautiful day in Charlotte! It’s supposed to be 62 degrees today (although I think it will be warmer) with a gentle breeze - a great day for a run. After experiencing knee pain for several days after the Kiawah Half-Marathon (in addition to constantly living in airports for the past few weeks), I felt that this week was the week to begin following a more formal marathon training schedule.

I just returned from a five mile run that quickly became a two mile run. About a mile into my journey, I developed difficulty breathing. Are you familiar with that feeling that you desperately need a deep breath, but you are unable to take one? This does not happen to me often, but when it does it takes me a while to recover. So I finished the second mile, and determined I would run again tomorrow.

This is a mystery to me. Two weeks ago I ran 13.1 miles at a quicker pace than I was running this morning, plus it was very cold and windy. Breathing was not a problem. Then today, a day that should be ideal for running, I felt winded after only a mile. I’ll call it a fluke - because I’m still going to be ready for that marathon!!!

After learning that I officially had gained a London Marathon spot on my list of intangible possessions, I decided to use the spot I had claimed for the Kiawah Island Half-Marathon months earlier. I had been running around five miles, 3x/week, and I figured a half-marathon was doable. A little history: my experience with the Kiawah Island Marathon in 2000 (http://www.jodidodds.com/Marathons/kiawahmarathon.htm will explain) was quite painful. The course is flat and monotonous, and every muscle in my lower half was practically tetanic for two days following the race. However, 13.1 miles is only half of the distance, right? I would run the race to motivate me for London - it would be a test to determine where I stood.

It was tough - in the 40s and chilly, which was fine, but while running next to salt marshes, there are no trees to shade runners from the wind. I remembered my gloves, but my face was quite chapped. I had also forgotten my watch, so I could not encourage myself with split times. Clocks were not available at each mile marker, so that made things more difficult.

At mile seven, the muscles around lateral portions of my hips began to feel tense. This NEVER happens to me anywhere - except on the Kiawah course. After speaking with Mike Aiken, co-owner of On The Run(http://www.ontherunstore.com ), I realized this was likely due to all of the twists and turns. The course is often winding, and I had to concentrate on my feet to keep my footing as I would turn each loop. By mile 10 my muscles were screaming in pain. I was worried about not finishing my motivational, purely-for-enjoyment morning run, and I was scared. I walked through the next water station, ran a mile, and walked through the next water station. I followed this pattern until completion, very happy to see the finish line.

To my disappointment, my times were in excess of two hours (gun time was 2:07:25 and chip time was 2:05:45). However, I was relieved to have finished and to know that I had it in me with little training to finish a half-marathon on a difficult course. In the days following the race, I was also experiencing some knee soreness. While I was tempted to jump directly into full marathon training mode, I felt it best to give myself about two weeks to recover. This way, I could begin my training the last week in December, which provides exactly 16 weeks leading up to London.

This was my second and final experience on Kiawah’s course. While it’s flat and thus people theoretically stand a better chance of qualifying for Boston, it is quite deceitful in its level of difficulty. Consider yourself warned!

I learned today that I am getting a spot in the London Marathon by raising money for the Shaw Trust charity. I have been informed that running the London Marathon is an experience unlike no other, so I am really looking forward to it. I designed a training schedule this morning that is probably too demanding, but I have high hopes of succeeding in this race. My initial goal is to go under 4 hours, but wow - there is still that very distant fantasy of beating 3:40 in order to qualify for the Boston Marathon (a far-fetched dream for someone of my speed, but it still lingers).