Taught my VERY FIRST Zumba fitness Class Last Night!!!!

There is a first time for everything!!!  Last night I taught my very first Zumba fitness class.  It wasn’t just one song for someone else’s class.  No.  That’s not how I roll.  When I do something, I do it all the way.  I started my own business and my own classes and taught my first full class all by my lonesome!  Boy was it fun!!!

I made sure to start my Zumba business in a place I feel loved and supported (my church).  My minister was so excited when I asked her about teaching there.  She has been very supportive and has made sure it was advertised and gave me special time up on the podium for the last 2 weeks to talk it up. Did I mention I feel loved and supported there?

 

Even so, I packed the room with my 2 biological children and 3 more bonus children.  I knew they would dance, laugh and bring that energy I love and they did!  But I also had a packed room!  People from Facebook.  People from church.  It was a great mix of age groups from 11 to 70’s.  Perfect!  Even my husband tried to do some shakin’ and groovin’!  (Unfortunately, he knees can’t handle it until after his surgery in July, but he tried!)

 

 

It is funny how I can have every song and dance memorized and do it perfectly at home, but once I get up in front of everyone and find myself having to multi-task (remembering the moves, doing the moves, encouraging others to move, giving instruction, counting the measures of the song, smiling and laughing all at the same time) that the dance moves just float away.  Sometimes during the songs it became just a matter of, move and have fun!  So that is what we did!  They didn’t know the moves to the dances, so what could it hurt?  Only a couple of women had ever done Zumba and since I choreographed all but 1 of my songs completely on my own, no one knew the moves except for me.  That made it easy to forget and make it up on the fly!  There is definitely a learning curve, but I don’t regret starting out this way at all.  I know many instructors start out teaching 1 song for an already formed class or they start out subbing.  This gives them the confidence to start their own classes.  But like I said, I started in a place I feel loved and supported and I know they will laugh with me not at me  .

 

I danced and smiled so much last night.  I literally had sweat dripping in my eyes. It was crazy! I looked at my participants.  They were sweating up a storm.  The 19-year-old boys had sweat soaked shirts!  My minister was sweating up a storm. I heard comments like, “She wasn’t kidding when she said we were gonna sweat!” I saw smiles!  I heard laughing.  To me, that means I did my job (if you want to call it that) well.  To me, it was just dancing with my friends.  Isn’t that what life is supposed to be about?

  

A Marathon Filled with PRs and Rookie Choices Makes for a Very Emotional Run

There are a couple of things you just don’t do as a marathon runner.  They are pretty basic, but unless you get some training or read some books, you may not know what they are.  Here are a couple of hints:

1)   If you are a slower runner, start towards the back (I learned that lesson at my 1^st marathon in 2006).

2)   Always break in running shoes before wearing them in a race.

3)   Never wear brand new socks or any piece of clothing or running gear. Yes, this could be said about your shoes, but it goes for EVERYTHING including your hydration belts or backpacks if you carry those.  It also goes for your shirts and pants and jackets.   You just never know how things are going to rub you in a long distance run, until you have tried it.  A marathon is not the best place to try them first.  That is what training runs are for.

4)   Be predictable in your pre-race eating habits. The night before a race is not the ideal time to try something new off the menu.

5)   The morning of the race, eat something predictable that you know you can run on.  This is NOT the time to try your favorite bagel and cream cheese before a race.

6)   If you do take any kind of pain killer/anti-inflamatory or medication, make sure it is one you have tested while on your long training runs.

7)   Run your pace that you have been training at. Run the way you have been training. Do NOT try something NEW with your running on race day.  And keep your head about you. Do not get caught up in the starting line energy rush.

8)   If you get the chance, don’t just look at your course map, drive it and check out the terrain.

Can you see where this blog is going?  I’m not a rookie to running races. Granted, I’m still a newbie by most people’s standards, but the 2012 Lake Lowell Marathon was my 3^rd official and 4^th in total Marathon.  I have run 2 official ½ marathons.  I have done plenty of long training runs. I have done several official 5Ks and one 10K. I’m not a newbie to racing.  I have also read plenty of books.  I know these basic rules.  With that said, I made plenty of rookie mistakes at the Lake Lowell Marathon.

Let’s start with the brand new shoes rule, shall we.  The day before the race, I went to the shoe store and bought brand new running shoes. I was not going to run the race in them, but something inside me said it would be okay and that I SHOULD.  Why, you might ask, would I listen to that voice?  I bought the shoes for a medical reason (my toes that keep hurting during long races).  I thought that my toes might last longer with the new shoes that are more like what the doctor ordered than what I have been running in.  I truly felt that running in these shoes would be a safe decision.  I was correct.  I ran the entire race with less pain than normal and no blisters!  The recovery for my feet was much faster.  I would NEVER suggest someone make this same decision, but I do not regret it one bit.  However, I did make plenty other rookie mistakes that leave me questioning my sanity!

The night before the race, we went to “carb load” (which by the way is a myth, but let’s face it, who doesn’t love a good plate of pasta!)  I ordered something I have never had before. The next morning, my insides were not very happy and I had 26.2 miles of running to look forward to

The morning of the race, instead of my basic oatmeal, I wanted a bagel with cream cheese.  Seriously?  Ya.  So that is what I had.  I ate ¾ of it when I realized, “This is not a smart decision, Martha.” And I put the rest in the trash.  With the bagel, I also had a bigger diet coke (more liquid) than I would have had. For the first time in my racing life, I had to stop and take a potty break, and I went to the bathroom twice before the starting gun!  Uggggg!

My comfortable pace is a 14 minute mile.  My comfortable training is 4 minute runs with 2 minute walks.  This is how I have trained for the last year.  Recently, I have done a couple of runs with no training/pace coaching.  But for my longer runs I have been doing time paces like this.  But for whatever reason, I thought I would try something different and run without my pacing voice in my ear. I was just going to run with my music and enjoy the race.

Then came the start. There were only 70 registered racers for the Marathon.  It was a small and personal race. And it was cold!  We were all ready to get running and warm up.  The “back of the packers” were excited and laughing (like all back of the packers usually are) so when the horn went off and we crossed that starting line, we were in a fun pack of people.  There was a couple from Japan and they were just so happy to be there and kept taking pictures of everyone. It was so fun to see them enjoying themselves. Everyone seemed like such great people.  One guy came running up to me and visited with me for a little bit as we commiserated over this horrible hill at mile 2!   I realized that I ran my fastest mile ever at 10 minutes!  I needed to slow down or I was going to kill myself!

 

I watched as the pack pulled away. I was sad to see them pull away but they stayed in my vision.  I decided to keep them as rabbits for me to chase.  Not a bad plan, as long as I could see them. They kept going faster or I kept slowing down, but there were 2 women that I kept my sights on.  That is until I had to make that dreaded bathroom break. I lost my rabbits.

My pace remained at 12 minute miles!  I was feeling great!  I passed the ½ marathon distance at my fastest ½ marathon pace yet! I did it in 2 hours 55 minutes!  Holy Smokes!  I was so excited, but I knew what was coming.   There has been a man running support for his wife who was running behind me.  It was her first marathon. He was riding a bike and meeting her every once in a while to cheer her on.  But I could tell she was catching up to me.  Which means she was slow and steady (the tortoise) and I was that blasted Hare who just started off way too fast!   I was slowing down.

This course was hilly to say the least!  The course description said rolling hills. It even gave an elevation gain and even showed a chart.  But I have no idea why those things didn’t give me a hint as to what I was getting myself into!  I didn’t drive the course before hand so I had no real clue.  Before the race, one woman (another 1^st time marathoner) said she had driven the course and said there was one hill at the beginning and the back side was flat. Then a man said there was a little hill coming into the finish line.  I wasn’t too worried.  After all, it couldn’t have been worse than The Race to Robie Creek which I did two weeks ago, right?  Ya.  Not so much!

The first hill was long. The first down hill was glorious but only ended in me going back up another hill!  As a matter of fact, I believe I did more up hill than I did down hill. Not sure how that works out, but I figure I was going up hill then FLAT then up hill again.  God forgot to put the down hill into this race course!  And who the heck puts a massive long 1 mile hill at mile 20 of a marathon????

By mile 18, my legs were dead and my time had slowed way down! Now I knew I was going to have to push it to make my goal time and I wasn’t sure I had anything left in my tank.  And to add to that, I was facing something I had never faced before during a race.

After my ½ marathon point, anything I drank made me want to vomit. I tried eating a little of the granola bar that was in my pack. I was taking little bites at a time, but it made me want to vomit. This was new to me, and if I couldn’t drink my water, my electrolyte drink or eat my granola bar, I was afraid I was going to dehydrate and run out of energy.  Then my mouth felt like it was filled with cotton.  What the heck?  Water made me want to vomit. My mouth was drier than the Sahara Desert and I was running low on energy.  How was I going to finish this race?  I had over 10 miles to go. That was a little over two more hours of self-inflicted torture.  I had to keep pushing.

Finally, I asked my husband who was running road crew for me to get me some ice.  I needed ice in my mouth.   The next aid station had none.  I saw him drive away to go find more. I came to another aid station a couple of miles down the road, she happened to have a few ice cubes in a bag in her ice chest.  Whew!  I took those with some water and sucked on them.  That was like heaven!

I had just finished my ice cubes when my husband arrived at about mile 20 with a huge cup filled with ice cubes.  Yay!!!!!  I took several and gave the cup back to him.  Then it was up that mile-long steep, up-hill part of the run.  I really felt like crying!

I couldn’t run without feeling like vomiting.  What had I done to myself?  Was it the new food from last night or the new food from this morning? Why was I dehydrated?  I wasn’t overly hot and sweaty; it was over cast, windy and chilly.  But why was this happening and when was this hill going to end?

Finally the hill ended and I got a bit of a downhill run before the course turned a corner and I found myself going up hill again.  Man I just wanted to quit!  I had my family bring out the ice cup again.  This helps.  I am able to stay hydrated and not want to vomit.  This is progress.  Maybe I can make it after all.

I come to another aid station. They had watermelon and Fig Newtons. Watermelon is good for upset stomachs.  I had a piece of that.  That was amazing!  But I couldn’t eat more than the half of fig newton. My mouth was just too dry.  What the heck?  I needed more ice.

Miles 23, 24, 25 and 26 were the longest miles EVER. I swear those miles were longer than any other miles.  But my pace kept saying I was at a 14 minute pace.  I could hear my time ticking away. I was going to have to push if I was going to make it.  Finally, I got one last ice break when my husband said, you have about 12 more minutes to make your goal and I had less than .2 miles to go.  My road crew drove to the finish line.

 

It was just me, my feet and the road now.  I was walking now and pushing myself hard.  I swear I didn’t think I would make it.  I was about in tears. Why hadn’t the finish line come into my view yet?  Where is it? Where am I?  I see the lake. I must be close.  Finally, I see the park. One more turn and I’m at the finish line sprint.  I take off sprinting.  I see my son to my left and he is sprinting beside me.  People begin to cheer.  I see the finish line clock.  I am going to make it by a few seconds, but I am going to make it!!!  Must sprint!  It’s only .1 miles. I can do this!  Legs must keep moving!   I feel like I am going to vomit.  Ugg. Gotta keep running.  Gotta make it.  I hear the anouncer, “And Martha Spiva is crossing the line just before 6 hours and 30 minutes!  She did it!”  My husband was taking pictures.  The wife of the race organizer was there to slide my medal over my head and congratulate me on my finish time and “the strongest finish they had seen all day”.   I swear I don’t know where those sprints at the finish line come from.  I could hardly walk .1 miles ago!

I finished my race, but couldn’t stop. I really felt like I was going to be sick.  I droped my hydration belt in the grass and kept walking, trying to walk off the feeling of being sick.  Finally that passed and I was able to  stop and stretch.  As we waited for the last 2 people to cross the line (the last was 45 minutes behind me), it finally dawned on me!  My mouth was dry and I was nauseous because of the pain medicine I had taken just before the ½ marathon point!  Instead of my regular Vicodin which I usually take during races for my toes, I had brought a Norco (because I couldn’t find the Vicodin).   It was the Norco on a pretty much empty stomach that caused the nausea and the cotton-mouth!  Lesson learned!

It was a race filled with rookie mistakes.  However, with all of those rookie mistakes,  it was also a race with three personal records (PRs)!  I ran my fastest mile, my fastest ½ marathon and my fastest marathon! It was also the first of two races to get me qualified for the Marathon Maniacs. Next race will be 14 days away from Lake Lowell Marathon.  Yup, I’m crazy!  But at least it’s the good kinda crazy!