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Our Fifth Hero Liz Boers-Maynard – Q&A: Part 4

May 262011
 

What are your some of your favorite websites/blogs to follow?

Do you have any advice for new bloggers?

I guess the sensible way to begin is to have a strategy and think about what type of audience that you want to attract etc etc – I kind of set out that way and ended up just “scribbling” and figuring out what was fun and sometimes its a “frustration” outlet and other times to share something with anyone that is interested but to share it is important. The “it” is sometimes afeeling, sometimes advice – e.g. nutritional stuff…

Our Fifth Hero Liz Boers-Maynard – Q&A: Part 3

May 252011
 

Tell us about your website. 

I share my everyrunsawinner site with my geeky husband who posts more frequently on our feeling-healthy blog.

What inspired you to start everyrunsawinner?

The inspiration for starting was a sort of experiment to learn the geeky stuff that Joost does, to reach out to other running nuts, and proving to everyone that you can go from 96 kilos (c. 210 lbs) to marathon runner in 5 years if you are in the right business!

Do you enjoy bloggin?

The blog is fun – I am sort of writing it as I run so it keeps me occupied. I have also made some really nice connections to people all over the world.

What was your most popular post?

My champion post was Paris Marathon – job done – I had 67 hits in one day and it continued to be high for days after – It beat Joosts hits hands down!!

What do you think about the people who interact with everyrunsawinner?

Its a great thrill when people such as you comment – it makes me feel good – and I have some fun exchanges with a few “regulars” from all over the world.

We’ve checked out your website and are impressed with your running schedule.  We’re also amazed that you can run in such low temperatures, how do you do it?

The secret to running in silly weather is the planning. If you have committed to yourself weeks before that you would run X klms on Y day then you just get up and do it!

The 5th Annual Richard McKinnon Golf Tournament

May 242011
 

The Running Brothers, our Dad, Larry and our cousin, Beau all participated in a golf tournament this past Sunday.  I had not been golfing since December and I know that my brother has not been playing much either since he has been too busy with work.  However, I knew that I would not have to be performing at my best for this golf tournament as many of the people who were entered had no idea how to play golf.

We made our way slowly around the golf course and on the first par 3, on a 180 yard hole, I pulled out my 6 iron and “stroked” a beautiful shot that hit the green and rolled up towards the pin.  The ball landed on the green and slowly rolled towards the hole.  I raised my hands in the air anticipating the ball dropping into the hole for my very first hole in one.  But, the ball didn’t drop.  We drove up to the green and saw that somehow the ball had rolled directly behind the hole by about two inches.  How it didn’t drop, I had no idea.

We skipped a few holes, in order to pass some of the beginning golfers and made up for those few missed holes by playing some holes twice.  Once we passed those golfers, it was smooth sailing for us.  On another 180 yard par 3 on the back nine, I stuck a 5 iron to 14 feet 10 inches which was good enough to win one of the closest to the pin prizes, a free round of golf for me and a friend at El Prado golf course.

On the 17th hole, a straight par 5, my brother and I narrowly missed hitting the green in two and after missing our short eagle chips, settled for birdies.  When the round was over, I had shot an 81, while Rocky shot an 88.  Both great scores for us.  When all was said and done, I had the second best score of the tournament, losing by one stroke to the first place guy.  All in all, we had a great time golfing and were happy to get out and play some golf with family and friends.

After our round of golf, we played a soccer game, too.  We ended up winning 4 to 1.  It was an easy game and an easy victory.

Our Mystery Challenge had to be postponed in order to enter the tournament.  Expect an update on the date to our next Mystery Challenge.

Our Fifth Hero Liz Boers-Maynard – Q&A: Part 2

May 232011
 

What type of events do you compete in? 

Compete in 10K, 15K, 16K (i.e. 10 English miles), half and full marathon.

What is the next goal you are trying to achieve?

Next BIG goal – Amsterdam marathon in October

Do you have any upcoming events?

2012/2013 will be triathlon years…

What are your most memorable experiences?

About running I guess you mean….so getting married, first sex, getting lost at South of England Show – finding way to lost children and moaning when my parents came to collect me as I wanted to finish my game of cards, don’t count!
The running stuff – pain of the first 5 K then the super buzz of running in the cold snowy winter; the numbness of the last kilometers of the marathon, the thrill of passing a club mate whilst chatting with someon who “picked me up” in the 30 K Groet uit Schoorl race… is that enough?

What do you enjoy least about running? 

– hitting the wall  – done it once dont want to do it again so train train train….ooh an seeing other runners keal over does nothing for the motivation.

Do you have any advice for new runners? 

Start steadily and comfortably but always push to feel some pain – in the end you will not feel any pain and/or push through to another level. Don’t take any notice of people who think that you are fast/slow/ training too hard/ YOU know what YOUR goals and your benchmarks are – oh I guess that’s the thing to do – set goals and find your benchmark…. there is always someone faster/ running even more stupid distances/ is silly places such as the desert/ North Pole – so do your thing!

Our Fifth Hero Liz-Boers-Maynard – Q&A : Part 1

May 222011
 

What is your name?

Liz Boers-Maynard

How old are you?

how personal! 43 when you sent this to me now 44!

What do you do for a living?

Owner International marketing company – Feeling-healthy.net and Risk Manager

Are you single/married?

Married to Joost

What are your hobbies?

Running, fitness, traveling, fine dining, fine wine, socialising, meeting people, blogging, reading other’s blogs, twitter, linking to likeminded souls, recumbant cycling, church, leading others in their quest for their goals

The Aftermath of The Orange County Marathon

May 212011
 

Rocky completed his run one hour after I did.  He did an awesome job considering that he was sick.  He said that he made it to around mile 16 before he began walking and eventually crossed the finish line.  All of our supporters were there cheering Rocky on.  When I told my supporters when I planned on finishing the marathon, I had told them that I thought it would be around 4 hours.  I also told them to get there early because I knew they wouldn’t want to miss me when I crossed the finish line.

Basically, I made them all wait for an extra hour and a half before I finished.  But, I did finish and surprisingly, everyone had a great time cheering us on. 

After the race, my brother and I could hardly walk, but we all decided to go to Red Robin for some food.  We hobbled into Red Robin and had a terrific meal with some of our most favorite heroes.  The food was amazing, but my knees were killing me and my crotch was on fire.  I wore boxers for my first marathon and I’m assuming that was the reason for the uncomfortability I was experiencing in my genitalia. 

Upon inspection my body, I found two things for concern:

  1. So much chaffing had gone on between my legs that I was bleeding.
  2. I had blood blisters that are actually still on both of my feet.  They are hiding underneath my callouses.

In the days following the race, my knees gave me problems for 3 to 4 days and for some reason, the top of my left foot caused me a lot of pain when I walked on it for the next two weeks or so after the race. 

As of writing this, it has been two weeks since the end of our first marathon and I think I have fully healed with the exception of the blood blisters on both of my feet.  My brother and I have decided on our next event, a sprint triathalon in San Luis Obispo towards the end of July, since we will be up there for the California Scholastic Press Association’s 60th Anniversary celebration. 

As for our next marathon, I haven’t talked it over with my brother yet, but the Long Beach marathon in October sounds like a good one to get involved with.  We will keep you informed.

The Second Half of the Orange County Marathon

May 202011
 

After my first step into the second half of the marathon, I had run further than I ever had before and, immediately upon crossing the half-way point was an enormous hill.  I mentioned earlier that I had developed a strategy to my running.  It was to walk up hills and to walk and make sure to get enough water at the water stations.  After beginning to walk up the hill I began to feel some immense itching going on downstairs, something that I had never experienced before.  And man, it hurt.  

After making it over the crest of the hill, I got back into jogging.  The searing pain in my crotch region distracted me from the pain that I was feeling in my knees so it was a rather unpleasant, but fortunate distraction.  I kept up my jog and was going strong, still stopping at the water stations to grab a drink of water and actually being able to carry on a few conversation with one runner who was from Chino Hills as well.  We ran alongside each other for at least a mile or so until I broke away from her.  

 One of our Twitter followers predicted that I would “hit the wall” at mile 18 or 19 . . . I hate psychics!  She predicted correctly that my running ended at mile 19.  I tried to run after the water station at mile 19, but my knees wouldn’t let me.  I simply could not run.  I was not winded or tired, but my legs gave out on me.  I ended up walking the last 7 miles. 

Two more complaints I had about the Orange County Marathon were:

  1. The longest stretch without a water station was immediately after mile 19 . . . probably one of the spots where the most water is needed.  They should have had one more water station there.
  2. They had a band playing music, which was cool, but I think it was live band karaoke, because some out-of-tune kid was singing Blink 182’s Damnit.  Not that I’m an amazing karaoker myself, but having to listen to his screeching was not something that I needed to here as I’m trying my hardest to complete my first marathon.
  3. I decided to myself that once I saw the finish line, I would try my hardest to run across it, mostly to impress those that had come to see us.  Some jackass at the end of the race was yelling, “You’re almost there, just 200 more yards.” I broke myself into a slow and steady jog, which was amazingly difficult at the time, only to find out that the finish line was not anywhere near where I was.  I had exherted all of my energy prior to the finish line.

When I came down the final straight-away, I saw my Mom waving her hands and cheering me on and this is when I broke into my jog.  As I ran down that final straight-away, I waved to all of those who came to support me and my brother, Mom, Dad, Lacey, Cindy, Jacklyn, Danielle, Claudia, and Dusty.  We had some amazing support and I tried my hardest to run across that finish line and I did, barely passing my 80 year old competitor at the last possible minute.  I had completed my first marathon in a little over 5 and a half hours.

Ironman Training – Week #20

May 192011
 

Weekly Amount:

Running = 20 miles
Biking = 70 miles
Swimming = 4000 M or 2.5 miles
Total Amount: 92.5 miles

Overall Amount:

Running = 298.5 miles (116.5 miles to San Francisco)
Biking = 980 miles (1,790 miles to New York)
Swimming = 77,200 meters or 49.2 miles (61 miles to San Diego)
Total = 1,329 miles (1,441 miles to New York)

Accomplishments:

OC Marathon– The Home Stretch

May 182011
 

I was heading toward the OC Fairgrounds by mile 24 and it felt good. I was still trying to do the math, was I gonna make it by the 7 hour time limit? My brain was not cooperating and I resorted to counting on my fingers which were pretty fat by this point from all the sweeling. About the 100th time I tried to do the math I was gonna be 30 minutes short. Then on the 101st time I did the math I was going to finish with 30 minutes to spare.

Then I came to one of the final water stands and they were playing some great motiviatonal music: Journey, Eye of the Tiger. By this point I had walked for about 8 miles straight but the music found some energy in my legs. I managed to run for about 2 minutes and my calves started to cramp up again.

Now I was a mile away from the finish (walking) but I knew I was gonna make it and knowing that made me feel great. It didn’t make my legs feel better but I had a smile, at least I think I did. Then I saw one of our supporters, Dusty, walking out of an adjacent parking lot. Dusty started to walk with me and it was great to have someone to talk to.

He really underestimated the distance to the next streetlight but it was nice to have someone to chat with. I crossed the final street and was heading into the OC fairgrounds, only a quarter mile to go. Then I saw the metal gates to separate the runners from the spectators and the spectators started getting more dense. Then I saw a few limping runners with medals arround their necks. I WAS CLOSE!!! I looked arround with the group I was going to be finishing with and decided I wanted to have my own finishing moment at the finish line and saw a large gap infront of the group I was in. I started to get up on my toes and take a few running steps then I was actually running. After 10 miles of nearly nothing but walking I was running.

One final turn and my support crew was running along the finish shout with me cheering me on. They announced my name on the loud speaker, I raised my arms in pounded them to the sky with excitement. The final step across the line I HAD DONE IT!!! I finished my first marathon, under the time limit, with a cold, in new shoes and on some pretty woobly legs.

I had ran and walked for 26.2 miles and now I could barely walk to see all of our support crew. My legs were toast. Our athletic trainer was on top of it and had plenty of ice for all our aches and pains. Zeb meet me at the end of shout. We both had our medals, body aches, and a great sense of accomplishment. Zeb finished nearly and hour ahead of me, he just keeps impressing me and he has a bunch more planned for his running career.

It was an incredibly experience and I made it to my goal but I think I have some more goals. Like improving my time, walking less and beating my brother next time. I guess we just have to see where we will end up.

OC Marathon–The Pain Setting In

May 172011
 

The next several miles were through business and industrial parks and it was a definently quite a contrast from the first 10 miles.

Coming in to mile 16 to the South Coast Plaza I had started to walk and my calves were starting to cramp. When I started walking I started to try to do the math. If I did make it to the finish line, would I make it in time? The course was shutting down in 7 hours. Based on my math and my walking pace, I was going to be cutting it close.

Then I saw our support crew again. They could tell I was struggling but they were great. Danielle was ready to massage out any cramps if I needed it and the rest were fully of encouragement. I couldn’t stop because I already did the math and I didn’t have any time to waste. 

As my calfes wouldn’t cooperate I decided I was walking the rest of the course and I tried to walk with a brisk pace but I was getting paced like crazy by other walkers. I just keep turning my legs and drinking at every water stop.

By mile 20 we were heading on to the Santa Ana River Trail. Zeb and I rode the bike trail a few months before. Let me tell you, walking the trail takes alot longer than biking it, especially when you walking miles 20 to 24 of a marathon. The sun was beating down on us, my nipples and other areas were chaeffing pretty bad, but I kept moving my legs.

The turn off the Santa Ana River Trail through fairview Park was sweet relief. Every step from that point on was actually straight toward to finish line and relief.

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