Back at it

got 22 miles in this week with a long run of 7.  Trying to hold myself back from going to much too quickly.  Running 5 times a week is tough on these weak legs, so hopefully I will feel like a runner again soon.  Feels good to be running consistently again.  It's part of me.

Hoping to up my mileage to 25 this week, maybe a long run of 10.

Only 10 weeks or so until Ragnar.

2 down, 9 to go

I've done pretty well.  A few hiccups the past week, but weighed in this morning and I've lost 2 pounds.  If only I could lose 2 lbs every week, July would be good. :)

11 pounds to go

I weighed in this morning.  Not surprising, I weighed 136.  I have not been doing any form of exercising consistently for over 3 months.  Bleh.  And I have been eating whatever... for real, whatever.

I am on a diet right now - Just did a Nike training workout and about to go out on a run with the boys.  I have Napa Ragnar in 4 months so I have to start training bunches.

Here's to healthy eating and exercising.  :)

Getting back to it

So here it is, I have to start running again.  I ran a 1/2 marathon on no training at the end of March, and maybe once since then.  I am running a ragnar relay in September which isn't all that long from now.  My youngest fell this week and broke his arm, so more than likely this summer is going to be spent at home.  No swimming, no running and playing, no beach.... at home.  Bummer that it is, I may be able to keep back up with a running plan.  So that's my plan.

Here's to starting over... :) and for hot summer morning runs.

Chicago Marathon - FINISHED!

I did it!!!  With the help of my friends, I finished the Chicago Marathon.  We had such a great time!  The race turned out to have perfect weather - 40-50 degrees.  I struggled though.  My legs started hurting in the very beginning.  My right calf/achilles was hurting.  I was just running along with my friends and trying to put it out of my mind.  Part of the problem is my shoes are worn out.  Part of the soles have lost their treads.  Completely my fault for not getting a new pair a month ago or so.  My feet started hurting around mile 6 and my legs started aching around mile 8.  Yikes.  I was in for a long race.  I didn't say anything and just tried to keep positive thoughts in my head.  

Finding my name at the expo on the big board of participants

Mom and I waiting for the drawbridge when we went shopping Saturday morning.

breakfast at the grand lux.  Yum!  Beignets and coffee!

Love Chicago!!

Holly, Debbie, me and Brooke Saturday afternoon.  Catching up in the hotel.

Pre race, ready to run!

 My friend Holly paced us.  We all had our our UT head bands she bought us.  It was awesome having her because she is much faster and had done this a few times and pulled us through those last tough miles.  There was a group of 5 of us running and Holly and I got separated for a few miles from the others, but miraculously we found them after seeing them about 40 yards ahead of us on a jumbo tron set up around mile 18.  I took cliff shot blocks and gu, tried to take gatorade and water at most aid stations.  Chicago does an amazing job of having the aid stations set up ever 1-2 miles it seems.  My legs were aching every step from 14 miles+.  My garmin was all over the place, between running under overpasses and between skyscrapers, it wasn't that accurate except for keeping up with running time.  The final miles it shows was 26.57 which may be accurate with all the weaving and turns.  I just don't know.  It says my average pace was 9:33 but actually it was 9:50 officially from the race.  But the total time was the same... 4:13!  The cool part to me was we crossed the 1/2 way point at 2:05 and finished with very close to the same pace.  The only walking we did was a few steps when taking our gatorade or water.  This was such a mental thing for me.  after getting to 15, I was shooting for mile 18, then mile 20.  Then just every mile after that.  I said, just keep moving, just keep moving. Debbie and I were dying those last few miles, but Holly kept cheering us on.  I could have lost my emotions a few times those last 6 miles, but I sucked it up.  When I stopped running after crossing the finish line, my legs hurt soooooo bad but luckily one of holly's friends handed me an advil and that helped lots.  I hung out a few minutes with my friends and headed back to the hotel to get a shower and then drove 7 hours home with my mom.  I drove.  I'm a bit sore today, a lot sore, but I'll survive.  I will never forget this.  My friend Holly talked me into it, and I'm so grateful.  Just to know I could do it, that I could push through the pain.  I'm not sure if I hit the wall around mile 17, but whatever it was it was tough.  I never stopped.  I couldn't have done it without Holly and Debbie there, it was such a great experience.  And I have a medal to prove it wasn't all just a dream. :)




I also raised over $300 for Compassion International!  Thanks to all my friends and family who donated!!

Mental taper

The Taper before a marathon.... supposedly it is an uncomfortable time.   You scale back your training, rest your body a bit more, all to be primed and ready to go at race time.  I have read that it drives people crazy - the fewer miles and storing up energy.  I for one am enjoying it a bit too much.  So then comes the mental questions... should I be running more than I am?  Am I losing some of my fitness base?  If I don't do a long run for 3 weeks, will that mess me up?  And all of the sudden I get it.  It's more a mental thing than a physical thing.  My body feels much better than normal.  Much less tired.  I've dropped 2 pounds the past week.  I have been training hard for 16 weeks.  That's a long time for me to stay focused on a goal.  The fear of the 26.2 distance is what kept me focused more than anything else.  I am really excited to see how my body performs.  Will those last 6.2 be the death of me?  Will it take me 2 hours to finish those last miles?  My goal is to finish under 5 hours.... can I do it?  I can't wait for all the feelings I will experience.  The excitement, the crowd's enthusiasm, the energy filled legs!, having to hold myself back when I want to surge, pushing through the fatigue and pain when I want to slow down, the mental challenge, then, should I get there by God's grace, the exhilerating finish!  I am excited.  And now I get it.  The taper is a mental game.  A game of trusting your training and your taper.  Nothing I do now will help me but I can hurt my chances of having a great race by doing something stupid.  Though the weather is cooler, and my pace feels faster, I am going to try to do all my runs easy.  I really want to push myself, but I know, I KNOW, I just need to trust my training, and enjoy the taper.  2 weeks, and it will all be over.

Taper Time

I really have done a poor job of keeping up with my posts here.  I have been training well.  I made all of my long runs and now am entering my first of three taper weeks.  I honestly cannot believe how far I have come.  I never thought I could train my body to run.  I never thought I could run alone so far, getting up so early, sacrificing my one morning to sleep in during the week, Saturday, for a super long run.  But I made it.

I wanted to post a couple of things here about my 20 mile runs.  First thing, I did them completely alone.  Two weeks ago was my first one.  I got up and had everything ready to take.  I drove up to a park near a lot of running routes people use around here.  The night before I had mapped out a course on Map my Run, but kinda lost my bearings 3/4 of the way through.  Let me just say it was very humid that morning.  I used my car as a base and kept most of my gatorade and gu there.  I took along my hand held bottle and a back of cliff shot blocks.  I struggled from the get go.  My training week prior had been pretty brutal and I think I ran 39-40 miles that week.  My legs were tired and I was dragging.  By mile 17 I was struggling.  I almost lost it emotionally.  But I struggled through the final 3 and finished.  I spent the rest of the day on the couch.

Yesterday however, I did a little bit of a different route.  The temp was so cool - mid 50s when I started.  I loved it!  I had to intentionally slow myself down the first 8 or 9 miles.  I could have gone so much faster.  I didn't get all my weekly runs in due to my schedule so I only ended up doing 31 miles this past week.  So my legs were fresher as well.

My split comparisons are here:

Miles	Sept 1	Sept 15
1	10:05	10:10
2	10:12	9:52
3	10:04	9:41
4	10:07	9:24
5	9:55	9:31
6	9:54	9:17
7	9:49	9:24
8	9:38	9:30
9	9:49	9:37
10	10:06	9:27
11	10:00	9:13
12	9:49	9:26
13	10:05	9:31
14	10:11	9:18
15	10:07	9:39
16	10:12	9:45
17	10:13	9:33
18	10:24	9:49
19	10:17	9:37
20	10:26	9:30

This gives me so much confidence heading into the taper weeks.  I am hoping to shed a few pounds by watching my diet the next couple of weeks.  That way I'll be lighter for race day.  I am so excited about the marathon and hope those last six miles aren't too brutal.  If yesterday was any indication, I think it's gonna be a blast!  3 weeks from today!!