Mental vs. Physical Training

So, yes, I lapsed again on my updates.  DONE with missing my blogging!  I promise I'll blog once a week from here on out!

I do have to say that I've had a couple distractions here and there.  Since the middle of July, I ran a long run July 20, that was 10 miles.  It went very well!  My runs the next week also went well.  I was happy to have one of my best friends from high school in town, Heather Sahr.  We had a great time for a couple days, but July 27, I ran my long run of 10 miles!

The next week was nothing out of the ordinary. I was still waking up around 4 am, starting my run around 5am.  My shortest run during the week was 4 miles.  The first weekend in August I ran 12 miles.  I have to admit I was a little bit nervous for this one.  I didn't know if my body was ready for it, but more so, I was worried that I wasn't mentally ready.  But, it went really really well.  I averaged a 9:45 min mile.  I'm definitely happy with that!

I took the next day off (per usual), and ran a quick 4 miles the next day.  I averaged about 8:30/mile, which is quick for me.  The next day, I left for KC...to meet my little "nephew", Stone Zonas Dyerson.

I stayed a week in KC seeing Stone, my best friend Sarah 'Pikul' Dyerson, and her husband Andrew Dyerson.  I ran my usual 3-5 miles during the week and did my long run that Saturday but it was only 8 miles, it went well.  Except for the fact that I planned on looping back to the Dyerson house to refuel, Guu and water, but (of course, knowing me) I got lost.  I found my way back right before 8 miles so it worked perfectly!

The next week I was struggling with allergies.  I ended up only doing 10 miles instead of 14.  I also had a couple of great friends in town from the east coast that I needed to see!

Katie Hull, who was born 2 months after me...our fathers went to high school together, was in town. So fun for us and our families to hang out!

Also, Sarah Woodard, one of my best friends from high school came into to from NYC. So great to see everyone, but I have to say...summer causes difficulties in training!

This past weekend I was hoping to run 16.  My allergies were so awful I didn't know if it was a cold, the flu, or allergies.  I only made it a handful of miles before I had to go home.  And I SLEPT...HARD.

Feeling much better.  However it's super humid and hot right now in MN so I've been doing classes at the gym and short runs.  It's supposed to drop in humidity tomorrow (fingers crossed)!  Can't wait to run outside again!

I need to do 16 miles this weekend regardless of the weather or my allergies.  I have to push myself mentally.  I know I can do it physically...its just mental right now.  For some reason it has been hard for me to stay positive during this process.  However, I need to keep in mind the reason I am running this marathon.

People who have MS can lose their ability to do any of the physical activites they are used to doing.  Some of them lose the ability to walk and end up in wheel chairs, as my grandfather did.  Unfortunately, one of the few things I remember about my Mom's father was riding around on his lap in his chair. I try to continue to remind myself when I want to quit running that so many people with MS wish they could run, or even walk.  That pushes me forward to continue working for these people.

Please help me in my drive to help cure MS.  $1, $5, $100, ANYTHING helps!  Please donate.  Every mile I run, I'm thinking of those who cannot.  Help find a way that they can.  Visit my fundraising page: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/mcdonoughsmiles

Thank you to everyone for supporting me in this journey!

McDonough's Miles is back!!

It's been almost a year and a half since I last blogged...wowza.  During that time I graduated law school, took and passed the dreaded bar exam and moved back in with the parentals!  Job searching has been rough and I've been doing temporary contract work off and on.  So, if anyone knows of any available attorney positions...let me know :)  .  Anyways, I'm starting my blog back up because I am training for my 3rd full marathon.

I will be running the Chicago marathon again on October 13 with my college roommate Sarah Pruitt.  This time around I am fundraising for multiple sclerosis.  MS is such an awful disease and one that I feel strongly about.  My grandfather, my mom's dad, had MS.  At some point I'll post more about my grandpa's struggle with the disease.  You can visit the website to learn more about the disease National MS Society.  My goal is to raise $1,000 to help fight this horrible disease.

I am hoping this time around I won't have any major setbacks like I did with my knee injury last time.  I am currently in my 5th week of training and it is going pretty well.  I felt pretty good physically going into the beginning of training, much better than last time.  I know I said last time I would never let my self get out of marathon shape again, but I did.  I finally started hitting the gym pretty hard and improved my diet a lot in January...it was time to finally lose that law school weight!  I was finally in a good routine going to the gym 5 mornings a week doing both cardio and weight training.  During my training I still plan on doing some strength training, controlling my diet and trying to lose more of those law school lbs!!  It took a while to be able to run outside this spring because MN decided it was going to snow till May and rain everyday till June!  But, I started officially training mid-June.  It has been going pretty well.  I ran into a little setback because I hurt my ankle so I tried to take it easy for about a week.  It still gives me some issues here and there so I do a lot of icing for it and also have been wearing Biofreeze (my favorite thing ever!) on it.  I am also being very careful with my knee this time around because it still bothers me from time to time.  I wear a small band under my knee which helps with pain and prevents further injury (Biofreeze also goes on my knee!).

Since my last marathon I switched shoes from Brooks Glycerin to Newton running shoes which are a natural running shoe.  I love them!  Check them out:  What is Newton running?.  It took a while to "train" into them and I had to take my time switching back and forth between the Newton's and my Brooks.

I have been having some issues keeping a steady pace so I need to concentrate more heavily on my pace in the coming weeks before I get to my really long runs.  My longest run was last Friday and I did 11, however I think that was too soon.  I really struggled and even had to walk a little.  I was trying to do an intermediate training program so now I revised it and am doing kind of a mix between beginner and intermediate.  My next long run in Friday and will be 10 miles.  I'll keep ya'll posted on how that goes!

In the mean time, visit my MS fundraising page McDonough's Miles MS Fundraising Page and PLEASE consider donating!  Any little bit counts!  I really appreciate all of your support during my training and fundraising process!

Wow...~5 months later!...Oops!

Well...I haven't posted since before my marathon...wow!  Sorry for not writing an update about how my race went!  I definitely meant to, it just kept escaping me!  While out for a run the other day I decided to get back to my blog just a little bit!  The first reason is because I'll be running a 1/2 marathon the end of April.  Second, because I'll probably start training for another full within the next few months.  And third, because lots of big accomplishments (hopefully) and changes in my life are coming up!

I'll start by going back months and telling you about the Chicago marathon weekend!  I flew to Chicago the Friday morning before the race.  Pruitt and her dad wouldn't be there until that afternoon/evening so one of my best friends (Amy Kasper) from high school who lives in Chicago was nice enough to pick me up at the airport and we went to a nice lunch on a patio because it was gorgeous out!  We had a glass of wine and caught up!  Amy dropped me off at the hotel and I just unpacked a little, did some school work, and lounged around.  Pruitt & her dad's flights were delayed so unfortunately they didn't get to the hotel until like 7 or so.  The 3 of us went out to a very nice dinner!  I can't remember the name of the place, but it was fabulous!  We had some martini's, wine, Irish coffee, and definitely drank too much for 2 nights before our race!  Oh well!...we hadn't seen each other in forever, so that was our excuse!  :)  (that and Tom Pruitt was paying...and for 2 young 20-something's to get a great meal & drinks paid for, you take advantage!! haha).  We went back to the hotel, Pruitt and I chatted more and went to bed!  In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel, went to the grocery store to get a bunch of gatorade, and stuff we would want in the morning before the race.  We went and checked in and got our tags, packets, and shopped around at the convention.  After that we went to a sport bar to watch the OU vs. Texas football game.  The Pruitt's are huge OU fans!  Nancy Pruitt, Sarah's mom met us at the bar after her flight got in.  And no, Sarah and I resisted the urge to drink, even though that's almost a sin during a football game!  My parents got to the hotel shortly after we got back.  They settled in, the parents chatted and had some drinks, then the ladies went to do a little shopping! :)  Then we all reassembled for dinner!  My family Pat & Adrienne met us and came with us.  Also my cousin Joe popped in after her got done working.  We went back to the hotel, the parents continued having a good time and Sarah and I went up to bed!

We woke up bright and early to prepare.  Had some breakfast & coffee and watched some Saved by the Bell!  I used to watch Saved by the Bell before school everyday when I was younger when its on at like 5am!  It's still on then!  We headed down to the starting corrale which was like 1 mile from the hotel.  The starting corrale was CRAZY!!!  Such a mess.  We actually had to jump a fence to get into our starting time's area!  Anyways, it was a perfect morning!  Probably about 60 degrees.  Pruitt and I both started with sleeves on but were down to our tanks in about 30 mins!  We saw our parents outside our hotel and continued on!  It is a gorgeous course and like I said the weather was beautiful!

My hip started bugging me very early on; about mile 6.  My knee started hurting about mile 9...not good.  I had tons of Biofreeze (my savior) on and just kept trying to ignore it.  We were doing about a 10:30min/mile pace which was good for me, and maybe even a little quick.  It was getting pretty warm.  NOTHING like my first race which was 97 degrees, but warm for me when I'd been training in MN in Sept.  It was heaven for Sarah who did her training in Dallas and San Antonio in horrible heat! Around mile 21, I was slowing and knew I had to keep at a slow pace if I wanted to finish because I was in a lot of pain.  I told Sarah to go on her pace without me.  Eventually she did.  I stopped to put on more Biofreeze and use the bathroom.  I ran till mile 24 then walked through some water stops and ran till the end.  Our parents did a great job making their way around the race.  We saw them like 5 or 6 times!  Good job guys!  I passed the finish line and the first thing they did was put my medal on, then try to take a picture.  It was like "Really??  I wanna cry right now and I can't move and you want a pic?! Really??"  Then...they hand you a beer.  Well, it was then that I realized neither Sarah and I talked about where to meet, nor did we talk with our parents about where to meet.  So that was difficult.  And the people who make the course are evil.  They make you walk like a mile to the "participant pick-up" area where you are supposed to find everyone!  It was hell.  Then we had to walk about a mile back to the hotel...hell.  We ate and had a few beers in the hotel bar.  Sarah and I looked ridiculous anytime we tried to get up and walk to the bathroom.  Beer wasn't even helping!  I was in so much pain, WAY more than my first race.  We went upstairs to rest and unfortunately Tom & Nancy Pruitt had to head home.  Sarah and I napped a little and expected to wake up and go out to dinner and drinks with my parents...well that didn't happen!  I couldn't move.  It hurt to roll over in my bed.  It took me 5 mins to gimp my way to the bathroom 6 feet away!  So, we got Chicago deep dish pizza room service and a bottle of wine.  They rolled the little cart right in between our beds, we ate, maybe had one glass of wine each and fell asleep during Amazing Race at like 8pm!  We woke up around 10:30 pm to the news just in time to hear that a woman ran the entire marathon pregnant and the last half in labor and gave birth 2 hours after finishing!  Gosh...and we thought we were in pain!  Back to bed!  In the morning we went to breakfast and then my parents and Sarah had to leave :(

Amy picked me up at the hotel and we went to her apartment.  We went to happy hour and then that evening Amy, her husband Justin and I went to a neighborhood bar to watch Monday night football.  Tuesday Amy and I kind of just walked around, went to lunch and kind of hopped to some places for drinks!  It was so fun!  That evening I flew home.  All in all a great weekend!  I finish the marathon which was my only goal!  And I got to spend some awesome time with some very special people in my life!

Oh...and I did reach my goal!!!  In fact, I went above my goal by some! :)  So thanks again to everyone who donated!  I know it made a big difference!

I'll leave this post at that since it is quite long enough!!!  But in the next couple days I'll post about what has been going on since and about my current training!!

RACE WEEK!!

It's finally here.  It's race week.

I am just a mess of feelings this week.  I have tons that I have to get done for school before I leave and besides school I'm feeling nervous, excited, anxious, scared, worried and many other things.  I have worked really hard for this race but I definitely don't feel as prepared as I did before my first one.  With the injury I just wasn't able to get in the mileage that I was able to last time.  I also don't feel nearly as in shape as I did before my first.  Yes, I know, I can run 20 miles, how can I be out of shape?  But, I am.  Oh well, I can't focus on those things now because there is nothing I can do about it!

I had a rough running week last week recovering from my 20 miles the weekend before.  My hip has been bugging me and my knee has been hurting me.  I've just tried to stretch a lot, roll on my foam roller to try and keep knots out of my legs and do some massage on top of lots of icing!  That being said I've taken it easy running.  I didn't do as much as I would have liked last week and I went 4.5 yesterday which was a little rough.  Part of it being my hip and knee and part of it because I could feel all of the not so good for me food and drinks I had last weekend because my best friend Sarah Heinbigner was in town from California.  I'm thinking I'm going to take today off but am hoping I'll be able to do short runs tomorrow and Thursday and then 2 miles on Saturday just to move my body a little the day before the marathon.

FUNDRAISING!!!  I am getting so close to my goal!  $200 to go...come on guys!  If you haven't donated this is the time!  It is seriously such a great cause.  Even in the past 2 months I've had 2 friends have their pets go missing.  One found her little dog a week later and the other is still looking for her cat.  PAWS is a safe place for these poor animals that go missing.  Like I've always said, I know money is tight for most of my friends, but even $1, or $5 helps.  That's one less coffee from Starbucks, one less drink at the bar, or one less trip to McDonalds!  Please help me and homeless animals out! :)

I want to thank everyone who has already donated!  This being the first time I've ever really fundraised (besides for selling candy bars, magazine subscriptions, etc. in elementary school and what not) I've found it to be an amazing experience.  Not only because it has made me really push myself in training thinking about how I'm not just doing this for me but for a cause that is very important to me, and not just because I've been able to see the way that other people are passionate for the same cause, but because I've gotten to see the amazing support of family and friends that I am lucky enough to have.  It is truly touching to see a lot of these donations and people who are supporting me.  I don't think I would have been still planning on running this weekend if I didn't have that support.  This injury was not easy to come back from and I definitely cannot say that my knee is even close to 100%, but I know I'll be able to push my way through it and that is in big part because of your support, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I want to make sure to specifically thank those of you who have donated in the past few weeks: Amanda Bulman, Paul & Barb Morin, Corey Stone, Heather Sahr, my mom's clinic Flying Cloud Animal Hospital, Michele & Randy Knutson, Rachel Kay my fabulous roommate, Pat & Adrienne Morin, Kevin McDonough, Sharon Dibella, Jack & Sheila McDonough, Bill Hull, Rick Berken and Rick Schoeller.  Thank you so much!! It is greatly appreciated!

So one final push!!  I'll stop bugging ya'll for money after this week!  haha...no more annoying emails!

I'm extremely excited for the trip to Chicago!  I haven't seen my former roommate Sarah Pruitt in a whole YEAR!!!  That's craziness for us!  So we're going to have a fabulous time catching up and getting to spend time together.  Also both of our parents will be there.  I haven't seen her parents in over a year so I'm excited to see them!  Plus, our parents have a pretty darn good time together so I know they're looking forward to it as well!  One of my best friends from high school and her husband who live in Chicago are volunteering at the race so I'll get to see them on the course!  And they are being nice enough to take me in for the night on Monday for a little slumber party!  We also have family, Pat & Adrienne and Joe & Pam who we will hopefully get to see!!!  I'm thinking it is going to be a great weekend!  And I don't want to toot my own horn, but definitely a weekend I think both Pruitt and I deserve!!!  :)

So please, keep me and my beaten up body in your thoughts and prayers as there is a possibility I will need them!  But only positive thoughts from me from here on out!

Please visit my fundraising page to make your donation!
http://pawschicago.kintera.org/teampawschicago2011/kellymcdonough

Or, send checks made out to PAWS Chicago, w/Team PAWS 2011-Kelly McDonough in the memo line to me @ 10601 Zinran Circle, Bloomington, MN 55438 or send them directly to PAWS Chicago, Attn: Team PAWS, 1110 W. 35th St., Chicago, IL 60609.  If you send them directly to PAWS it is very important to make sure my name is in the memo line of the check, otherwise it might not get credited to my goal!

THANKS a MILLION!!  Emma sends lots of puppy kisses as well!  :)

Well, since the last time I posted I completed another 20 mile run!!...AND all by myself!!  It was not horrible like I expected it to be.  However, my water pack bugged me a lot during my first long run and gave me a really painful bruise on my back so I didn't want to bring it on my 20 miler.  I re-worked my route so that I could swing by my parents often enough to reload water and gu.  I went 6 miles at first then reloaded and went out for another 6.  I felt really pretty great after hitting 12!  But then when I hit 16 I started cramping really badly.  I think it was partly from the cold and partly from not hydrating enough.  I walked for about 2 minutes to do a gu and drink a good amount of water.  That helped a lot and once I started running again I was able to make it to 20!  It was a great accomplishment for me.  I didn't think I'd ever be able to do 20 miles before this marathon.  And now I've done it twice.  I think back to the pain I was in during July and all the doctors telling me there was no way I could do the Chicago marathon on October 9 and I am so proud of myself.  I would never have done it if I wasn't committed to doing this for PAWS Chicago.  I knew I was obligated to this and it has pushed me so hard and I'm thrilled to do it.  It is such a good cause, I urge you all to PLEASE help these animals and help me reach my goal!!  Donate at http://pawschicago.kintera.org/teampawschicago2011/kellymcdonough 

PLEASE & THANK YOU!!!

I only have 9 days to raise $400!!!  PLEASE HELP!!!

Click Here to Donate

20 MILES!!!

I did it!!  I completed my 20 mile run!!  Last Friday I went to KC for a wedding and my friend Pikul that I keep talking about was running her 20 miler with team in training so I decided to run with her because it would be easier with a group.  It was my first time doing a team run and I loved it!  Its so great to have the support of everyone, not to mention the water stops!  We started off nice and slow which is why I was able to go the full 20 miles!  It was a nice cool morning and I did really well at the beginning.  I did start having pain in my knee about 8 miles in when I was running down hill and my feet started hurting as well because I need new shoes.  My knee continued to bother me which concerned me, but not bad enough for me to stop!  I was feeling good at mile 15, Pikul and I both kind of picked up the pace and this was through a hilly part of the run.  Well, it was too early for my to speed up...about mile 18 I started struggling.  I held back a little and Pikul was great in keeping me positive and helping me continue!  However, I felt bad I was holding her back and finally after telling her numerous times to speed up and leave me going slow she sped up.  Pikul killed the run!  She did awesome!  And she really motivated me and I was able to finish.  I might have been in pain and running slow at the end and thinking I was gonna die the last 2 miles, but hey...I finished!!!  And I didn't walk which was my main goal!!

Before my first marathon 20 miles was the furthest I ran.  I feel like I need to do 1 more 20 mile run before the race, but I'm extremely nervous about doing it on my own.  My fabulous roommate Rachel has volunteered to rollerblade the 20 miles with me and I might take her up on that offer!  But I also might try to find a race or even just a running group here that I can do it with.

My weekend in KC was fabulous!  The run, the wedding, everything was great!  I got to spend some time with great friends which was so good!  I miss Kansas :(

Fundraising...less than a month to go!!!  Crunch time!!!  Please help support homeless dogs and cats by donating!  Visit my fundraising page: http://pawschicago.kintera.org/teampawschicago2011/kellymcdonough
I also would like to ask everyone to keep an old friend's cocker spaniel in your prayers.  He went through some intensive surgery Monday and needs your prayers and thoughts.