THE MARATHON!!!

Well, it's over!!! I finished with a time of 5 hours and 42 minutes. Whoever said running 20 miles is not much different than running 26.2 miles was WRONG. The last five miles were seriously the worst five miles of my life. Thanks to a generous application of body lube and tech gear, I finished with no blisters or chafing. One of my toenails on my left foot feels a little funny though. I hope it doesn't fall out. :(

The race started off fine and I ran the first half (13.1 miles) of the marathon through without stopping, took a short walking break while taking some fluids and an energy gel pack and ran another few more miles. I didn't ever really hit 'THE WALL' where I felt like I could not go on anymore around mile 18. However, I think it was around mile 20 when I had to consistently walk a little and then run a little, which probably had something to do with a hill around mile 19.

There were people cheering and crazy runners all over the place along the course. Some of the costumes were insane. I was consistently running behind a dude dressed up like a shark. Around mile 20 there were people serving shots of cold beers. My favorite sign was at mile 19 which said 'Run like there are zombies behind you!!!' In the beginning of the race, I thought all the taiko drummers and other Asian drum groups were placed rather well on giant hills so you can work your way up the hill while listening to the beat of drums. Walking and drinking/eating is not one of my fortes. By the time I was done, I am pretty sure my face was probably smeared with orange and I smelled like electrolyte drink since probably only half of what I got actually reached my mouth and the other half was spilled on my face and body.

One thing that was kind of annoying was the ambiguity of where all the miles were.  I was told they had huge mile markers at every mile. Last year they had giant inflatable mile markers at every mile which rained/blew over causing runners to run around them to avoid getting smashed. I think with the anticipation of terrible rain and winds they had really small signs to the side of the route with small clocks. LAME. I'd go a couple miles at a time without ever seeing a mile marker probably because I'm short and can't see over other taller runners and I don't know, I was busy running?! When you're running long distances like that, it's really nice to know where you are so you can track your progress. Otherwise, it feels like you aren't accomplishing a whole lot when you run and don't know where you are. They only had the giant inflatable markers for the last few miles around mile 22 or 23. By that time, I was super grumpy and tired.

Running with a charity team was actually a really great decision in hindsight. Waiting for the race to start in a suite at Dodger Stadium was super nice since I didn't have to go out in the cold until he last possible minute. We had a team cheering booth around mile 18-19, which had Gatorade and pretzels. It was really encouraging to see familiar faces of other volunteers. The Gatorade they had tasted really nice and replenishing unlike the watered down electrolyte drink they served on the course. In the last 5 miles of hell, the idea of a warm inviting team reunion suite at Hotel Shangri-La motivated me to keep moving forward. I hope the volunteers who organized and manned the two suites and cheering booth know how awesome they are and how thankful I am that they were there supporting the team.

Would I ever run another marathon again? Probably not...at least not anytime soon. I would do half marathons though in a heartbeat. Those are a piece of cake after my marathon experience. In fact, I'm planning on running in the San Francisco Half Marathon this July and possibly the Nike's Women's Half Marathon in October. However, first I need to lose some weight...for the sake of my knees and a faster finishing time.

Some of the Kitten Rescue marathon team the morning of the race

Thanks for the unforgettable experience!!!

Last minute thoughts....

Well, I'm about to go to bed now. Tomorrow is M-Day. I have tons of butterflies in my stomach (and carbs). I've done everything right according to many marathon training guides so I guess I'm ready for tomorrow. *sigh* The best part of training so far is carbo loading. God, I love carbs, but running a marathon is a hefty price for the carbs I've eaten in the past few days.

You can track my progress on the marathon route on my Facebook page if you're my friend (www.facebook.com/joycekao). Feel free to kick in a few more bucks to my fundraiser as I'm running or especially if/when I cross the finish line for all you doubters out there (www.crowdrise.com/JoyceKao).

I can hear the rain starting up again outside...pray for a miracle aka SUNSHINE. Good night.

Last minute preparations and CONTEST

With regards to the marathon:
I finished my last training run today...a whole TWO miles!!! It was the easiest two miles I've ever run and apparently motivated Julia, one of my Thursday running buddies, to continue on and run 6 miles. I've also started carbo loading with the help of my friends, Aysen and Wendy. We went for the traditional Korean rice bowl called bibimbap. It's mostly rice with some lean protein in the form of seafood or kalbi and veggies. After dinner, we hit up a spa in Koreatown to relax and soothe my aching muscles. All in all, it was a very pleasant evening.

With regards to fundraising:
I am now over my initial goal of $1000 and am trying to reach a second goal of $1200. My friends, family, and colleagues have been super super supportive and I am already really close to goal #2. My massage place, Raindrop Bodyworks, is also helping out by letting me leave a donation jar at their reception desk.




Additionally, they've donated a free massage for me to hold an online donation contest. Yes, you read that correctly...FREE MASSAGE!

So here here it is, the OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT of the online contest. ANYONE who donates to my Crowdrise page (www.crowdrise.com/JoyceKao) between 12:01 AM Friday, March 16 to 11:59 PM Sunday, March 18 will be entered into a drawing to win a 50 minute massage session of Swedish, Deep Tissue, or combination of either at Raindrop Bodyworks (raindropbodyworks.com)!!!

They've been doing all of my deep tissue massages when I've needed them during the entirety of my training and the fact that I am still standing after running 20 miles should be a testament to their massages :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Bake Sold!!! A GINORMOUS THANK YOU TO ALL!!!

My bake sale this past Tuesday was a total success although I might have overcompensated when planning out how many baked goods to make. I was completely amazed about the number of friends who stepped up and helped out for the bake sale from baking to setting up/breaking down !!!  A HUGE THANKS goes out to my friends, Jenny, Iris, and Sudeep, who slaved away with my fiancé, Kjong, and me on Sunday baking for the whole day (and night).   Special props to Kjong and his awesomeness at baking bread, which nearly sold out of the 20 loaves we made. Two more of my friends in my department also donated some cream cheese cupcakes and Chinese cheesecake to the bake sale. Both of which were delicious and sold out fast! Also thanks to my fellow USC KR volunteer, Barbara, for advertising the bake sale in the Linguistics department. Everyone was super, super, super awesome!!!

In total from the bake sale and the bake sale leftover flash sale, I have raised a total of $419 for Kitten Rescue.  This puts me about $200 away from my fundraising goal of $1000. :) I am so happy that so many people support animal rescue (and/or me...or just love baked goods ) in the Molecular and Computational Biology department as well as the Linguistics department at USC.

The End is Near...

To start off with, here's a picture of my new adoption ready foster a.k.a. my current marathon muse. She's a total sweetheart and looks a lot bigger in this picture than she actually is in real life:

Mura and me

The LA Marathon is less than three weeks away. I just completed the big 20-mile run in my training this past weekend.  From here on out till the marathon, I taper down my mileage. I would like to say something like 'training for this marathon has been a life changing experience', but honestly, it's been kind of an tedious and painful (as well as expensive!) and right now I'm just really ready for it all to be over.  Allow me to elaborate.

1. Tedious:
Even though I am following a beginners marathon training schedule, the mileages as the marathon approaches are INSANE.  For example in the past week, I ran 40 miles total...40 MILES TOTAL. I'm still not quite believing it myself.  In the beginning when I started last August, it was 1 mile here, 2 miles there, or the occasional 3 miles.  That was maybe 10-40 minutes in the morning (no biggie).  Now I have to section out hours at a time to fit my weekly runs in. Since I am vertically challenged and not trying to win the marathon here, my pace is rather slow.  Now when I run, I have to put aside an hour to two hours, maybe even three depending on the distance I run during the week. On Saturdays, I have been setting aside 5 hours for the past few weeks to finish what I think are insane mileages.

I have had some people ask me what I do during my runs (other than run) since these long runs can take hours at a time.  Most of the time, I'm concentrating/meditating. I'm trying to concentrate on not thinking about how uncomfortable I am while running. Music helps, especially something with a good steady beat....although I am pretty sick of DeadMau5. Video game music is also good because I think I'm getting hit points for every mile I run down (think Mario and mystery boxes every mile).

I also think about all the cats I have rescued and placed in good homes....and hopefully all the cats that I am going to help in the future. Cheesy, I know, but I definitely would not be running a full marathon without knowing that I am somehow benefitting some good cause because after all this training, it's sure as hell not benefitting me (physically), which brings me to the next point.

2. Painful
According to another team member, I am one of the few KR marathon team members who hasn't been injured yet during training. This is false.  I have developed injuries while training, but being a graduate student at the University of Southern California has it's perks when it comes to care for athletes probably because of all the great athletic teams at USC.  The doctors are probably sick of seeing my face at the campus health center. Injury was one of my main concerns when I started running. I was constantly reading articles from Runner's World and chatting with fellow runners in the lab I work in about what pain is 'normal' and what pain is not.  So far, I have been pretty lucky in being able to distinguish when to stop running and when to keep going. I have suffered through blisters on my feet, patellar tendonitis, shin splints, tense calves, tight hamstrings, lower back pain, and extreme chafing.

In addition to the actual running, a lot of time is dedicated to recovery. I have been doing physical therapy exercises to strengthen and stretch muscles before and after runs. Regular visits to the chiropractor are also a part of my schedule as well as deep tissue massages. A real deep tissue massage is NOT pleasant or relaxing. There is nothing relaxing about someone kneading, pulling, separating, and lengthening (with great force) already super sore muscles, but the faster recovery time and less pain during consecutive runs are totally worth it.

3. Expensive
Back in the day some 6 or 7 years ago when I was an undergraduate student, I ran in crappy $10 shoes, with whatever old beat up shorts and t-shirt that was in my closet...5 miles, no problem. Fast forward to the present, now I need need gait correcting shoes, special socks, sweat wicking apparel, and body lube. Since starting training, I've bought three pairs of running shoes priced anywhere between $50-$80/pair.  Running shoes are only good for 300-400 miles (can you guess how many miles I've logged?) I started out with regular running socks priced around $10 a pop.  The pair I will be running the marathon in are $60 for one pair. They're compression socks, which staves away shin splints and tense calves AND if I wear them between consecutive runs I recover faster.  Yes, they are magical that way and I will gladly pay $60 for that much less pain.

Luckily one can get sweat-wicking shirts and bottoms for fairly cheap if you skim the racks at Ross or Marshall's and you don't care about the color scheme. What's unlucky is that the extremely limited selection of sweat-wicking undergarments on the discount racks.  My discount bra nearly cut me in half for most of my training despite smearing myself with an anti-chafe stick. It wasn't until last week when I finally decided to lay down $50 to buy a proper running bra and another $14 for sweat/water-proof body lube that triathletes wear.  Now I'm no longer being sawed in half, but I'm $64 poorer. Don't get me started on my $20 underwear so I don't have to feel like I am wearing a wet diaper after I run...

I am sure that I look like a dork when I run....so if you are out there on March 18th cheering for the runners, I will be the awkward-looking runner wearing extremely mismatched gear since I can't afford to be 'fashionable' on my student stipend.

Conclusion:
With all that being said, has all this been worth it thus far?  I don't know yet.  I'm still quite a bit away from my fundraising goal. In the end, I did not do this for myself, but it is ultimately for all the current and future animals of Kitten Rescue. With less than 3 weeks left, I have to raise about $600+ to reach my goal of $1000. Efforts of sending emails, advertising on Facebook, and in person soliciting have amounted to almost $400 of donations on my Crowdrise fundraising page HERE.

My next goal is to hold a gourmet bake sale next Tuesday at USC near the building where I work. I will be employing my wonderful fiancé's hobby of baking to make an assortment of sweet and salty confections. Hopefully that will bring in a good amount of donations. The 'hard' training part is over. Now I am in fundraising mode!  FOR THE KITTIES!!!!

Here's your monthly update....

I've been less than great at keeping this thing updated. Given that there are four weeks left till the marathon (eep!), I'll try to update this at least once a week. I've yet to hit my target long runs on the weekend.  I'm always a few miles off. What I've learned is that I can't stop running after the 10 miles. When I stop, all the pain and swelling become apparent and I can't seem to get started again.  I guess the solution to this is to just NOT STOP RUNNING.

The body lube anti-chafe stick also stops working after 12 miles.  This past weekend I ran somewhere between 15 and 16 miles and ended up with a giant bloody chafe across my abdomen. Woo...why is running so complicated?!

Yesterday at the Team Kitten Rescue meet up in Encino, I bought a new running bra:

This is Moving Comfort's Luna bra. It's a really serious bra....super padded, keeps everything strapped down, and has a moisture wicking/non-slip band, which hopefully will help with my bra-cutting-me-in-half problem.

In addition to the new bra, I also purchased a new kind of body lube, Trislide. Supposedly, it's made for triathletes so it's super water/sweatproof (which makes me wonder how I'm going to get it off afterwards). Let's hope new bra + body lube keeps me in one piece and not cut in half like a magician's assistant post-marathon.

New Year, New Problems....

Well, I've been super bad at keeping up with this blog. My training honestly has been less than superb. If it's not my cramping calves, then it's something else...like this annoying cough I developed a couple weeks ago. Did you know it's really hard to run 12 miles with cramping calves and a lung hanging out? Yeah, that was two weekends ago. I also thought it was a good idea to bike 30 miles to Redondo beach the day after that. It wasn't until both lungs were hanging out that I decided it was a good time to take some time off from training so this past week, I've just been lazy and stuffing my face with food...

This morning I went out for a 3 miler. Apparently my cough is not completely gone, but it doesn't seem to have gotten worse. After a week of rest, 3 miles is pretty easy. No cramping calves...totally loose,but that might have been because of the yoga class I went to last night. I am trying yoga to cure my insomnia. We'll see if there is any effect after a few weeks....I am skeptical,but if anything, yoga seems to be a really great way to stretch out. All of my muscles are pretty tight after running so maybe it'll improve my range of motion after continuous marathon training.

One mystery I have solved this year so far was the origin of a scratch at the top of my tummy that would appear on and off last year. See pic for reference:




Apparently, my sports bra was cutting me in half. It never occurred to me that this scratch was running related. I thought I was just scratching myself in the middle of the night or something. Well, after I figured out that my sports bra was chafing me in half, I set out to search for a better non-chafey bra. Yeah...I learned that running bras are EXTREMELY expensive. Runners world suggested several bras from Lululemon athletica, which were like $40-$60 a pop and my local running store suggested the Shock Absorber bra which was retailing at $80 per bra!!! In the end I went with the $5 stick of rub on body lubricant. Yes, its kind of gross feeling, but it seems to get the job done. The angry bra injury has not recurred since. Who the hell thought running would be so complicated?! *sigh* Amazon had a 25%off sale on all running shoes. I just ordered my third and FINAL pair of running shoes. This pair will be the ones I wear during the marathon. I decided to go with the Mizuno Wave Alchemy over the Brooks Addiction shoes. The Mizuno is a lighter shoe and feels less like I am running on orthopedic cement blocks than the Brooks shoes. They also look less dorky, which is a plus. I will still use the Brooks to train for shorter distances to give myself more of a weight challenge, but will definitely use my Mizuno's for long runs for comfort.