Days 152 - 159

Wow I'm getting really bad at this. Life is just so busy busy busy. I need a real weekend. And a real week, for that matter.

Ok, last Thursday ran my 7.5 in the afternoon since I woke up with a migraine. I need to stop this early morning running thing. Or the staying up way too late and not sleeping things. Either way. Didn't look at the time. Just got it done. Friday was a rest day, and I decided Saturday would be too. I think some of my tiredness is from slightly over-training, especially since we were due for a rest week but decided to switch weeks around because of yet another travel adventure for me this coming weekend. Plus a friend was in town, so it's totally excusable.

Sunday was 19 miles. It was long and tough, but we finished in just under 4 hours. I realized during the run that after 16, it's all the same. Every mile sucks, and you don't even notice the additional mileage. 18 = 19 = well... let's not talk about 20 yet. I felt pretty good about the run. We're getting so close now, and most marathon training plans only go to 20 miles, which we'll obviously make it to. Every mile we get in after that is just bonus. I think Chris was feeling a little down though, because we were definitely hurting and exhausted. I tried to be encouraging... if our goal is just to finish, we can totally do it. We ran 19 miles in 4 hours... that leaves us 3 more to run 7.2. No problem. We could walk that. And after our first half marathon I didn't run for a few weeks and he didn't run for 3 months. Now we run a half marathon every weekend AND are out running two days later. I think we can make it.

Monday's yoga class kicked my butt. I don't know if I'm still super out of shape or if my instructor is really that tough... probably a combination of both, honestly. This week we're taking our rest week, so Tuesday morning's run was only 6.5, but both Chris and I were still sore and heavy from 19, so it was pretty slow. (And by pretty I mean pathetically... 6.5 in 1:27... ugh.) Despite my soreness I made it through belly dancing Tuesday night as well... probably because it was mostly arm and chest work. My arms have not burned that badly in a long time, and I found muscles in my chest I didn't know existed! I signed up for another course too... I think I'm addicted. Yesterday I was supposed to go to yoga, but time just ran out and I didn't make it, so I did 20 minutes of yoga on my own and 20 minutes of belly dancing practice... if I carry over belly dancing from Tuesday, I think I can count my cross training complete.

This morning Chris and I ran our second 6.5. It was slightly better than Tuesday... I felt better, and it was a little faster... 1:15 - 1:20 (It was too cloudy for my Garmin to receive satellite reception, so I don't know exactly). I again tried to make it to yoga today, and again failed. I'm pretty disappointed. I really need to get back on track with it, and I don't want to waste my Living Social coupon. Next week I'm going to have to make up for it.

Charleston this weekend, so probably workout (and blog) fail, but I'm going to try to get a good run in on Sunday. We'll see. Maybe we'll walk a lot around the city, and that can count as Saturday's cross training...

Day 151

Yoga tonight. Probably one of the best classes ever. Wednesday night class is "yoga basics," so we do fewer poses and slower flow, but really have a chance to work on form. Everyone is at a different level, so you can do as much as you feel capable of. It's really nice to slow things down a little and think about what I'm doing; I think it helps keep me more present in the moment. I could tell I really needed this class tonight--I was very focused and left feeling so much calmer and refreshed. This is why I shouldn't slack off for so long, obviously.

P.S. I also cleaned my apartment... which I totally think should count toward cross training!

Days 149 & 150

Finally went back to yoga Monday, using my second coupon for Active Sol. I slacked for way too long. I really thought I might die. It was so ridiculously hard, especially anything involving my arms. Definitely need to make good use of this month and get back in shape.

Because next weekend I'll be traveling again, Chris and I switched our 19 mile week and our rest week so we're not trying to cram a 19 mile run into a weekday night after a full day of work (we all know how well that went with 17). So Chris and I did 7.5 miles this morning. It's getting pretty chilly (and dark) in the mornings--had to break out the pants and long sleeve shirt. The run was solid, but I am just so slow. I don't understand how not that long ago we were running 10 - 11 min miles, and now I can barely do 12:30. I know we're not running for time, but if I can run 18 miles, I feel I should be able to run a fast 7.5. I'm frustrated and discouraged. Maybe it's just from so much training; I could just be in a slump. If I can get through this week, I'm going to take a pretty extreme rest week and see if I can come back feeling better.

I also went to belly dancing tonight. I discovered I'm pretty good at hip stuff, but really terrible at upper body. I don't have the coordination to move my chest and stomach like that. Maybe if I keep working on it. I'm thinking about signing up for another 6 weeks... maybe a beginner's choreography class so I can learn to apply all of these moves I'm learning. Hopefully I have the money this month. Sure could use another Groupon...

Day 145 - 148: New shoes, new attitude

Switched Thursday and Friday workouts, so Thursday was a rest day, which I used to head over to Big Peach and get my new shoes. Decided to go back to the first type I owned... I didn't need the Superfeet in those, and I just felt I had less foot pain in general. This edition is hot pink, so I guess I can feel pretty while I run?

Didn't hesitate to break in the new shoes... jumped back on the proverbial horse for another 7.5 miler Friday afternoon. I was still pretty slow, but I ran the whole thing and didn't hurt too much, so clearly shoes really were a part of my problem. I tried out some new roads in our usual neighborhood too (which is the kinder way of saying I got lost... it's amazing how fast time goes by when you have no idea where you are), so maybe I can start mixing up our "shorter" routes a little more without having to stray too far from home.

Saturday was creative cross training: went up north for a corn maze adventure! (I live in the south now, I say "y'all" and do things like corn mazes.) It actually ended up being a pretty decent amount of walking... the whole thing is 3 miles, and we probably did almost that, since, well, it was a maze and it was dark and it's really hard to navigate in a giant dark field of corn. We also did a hayride, an apple slingshot, and a duck race (rubber ducks, not real ducks... I was disappointed too), but I don't think any of those really count towards my training.

Today: 18 miles. Pretty intense sense of dread all last night and this morning. We picked up my coworker a mile in and she did a 10 mile loop with us in preparation for her half marathon next month. Then Chris and I finished on our own. It was hard, definitely, and I am still slow for some reason. But we finished, and only had to walk up a few of the super steep hills toward the end. We finished in 3:47, and at our average pace today, we probably would have finished 19 in 4 hours. That should put us on track to finish in about 5:30 - 5:45, which would be great. I did, however, reach a point today where I realized that I don't care that much about time any more. Running that far is HARD. The majority of the population will never do it. So all I want is to be able to say I did do it, to finish before the vans have to pick me up and carry me to the end. I think we're insane for doing this, but it's kind of late to quit now. So I guess we just keep trucking along and hope it all pays off in the end.

Days 143 & 144: It's official... and I officially fail

Ok, first things first: Cross training yesterday due to wacky schedule was belly dancing. Learned these moves called camels. All I have to say is... I didn't know I had muscles there...

I registered for the Disney marathon today. I paid the money... all $135 of it... so I'm committed. Unfortunately, it was the worst possible day I could pick to do it. Chris and I attempted to run our 17 miler. Worst. Run. EVER. At mile 7, I was so hungry that I was actually in pain, and we had to do a walk/run. We stopped for an apple and some Gatorade at 13.5, but it was too late by that point, so we mostly walked the last part... and we only made it 16. I literally teared up and was going to cry. There's no way we can do a marathon if we can't run 17. Chris assured me that it wasn't the distance. We know that we can run 7 miles. We do it all the time. We know we can run 13... how many times have we done that? And our 16 miler was great, followed by a fantastic half marathon. He thinks we had too many other factors working against us. And it's probably true. Usually we do our long runs first thing in the morning, after a good breakfast. Today we had both worked a full day and neither of us had eaten any time close to when we ran. We both desperately need new shoes, so we were both hurting. And since we just had two good long runs, we were due for a bad one. It happens.

By the time we finished I was fairly convinced. We both agreed to get new shoes before Sunday, regroup, and get back to our long run routine. We're going to try for 18 on Sunday like we're supposed to do, but we agreed that it would be ok if we decide to stop at 17. It would only put us a week behind, and since we planned extra time for that and haven't lost any time yet, I think that's probably fine. So I'm not going to cry about the bad run tonight. I'm going to get super excited about my trip to Big Peach and snazzy new running shoes tomorrow, focus on the resolutions I set Monday, and get ready for Sunday like it's any other long run day. It's going to be ok. It has to be.

Day 142: Ugh

I don't know what's wrong with me. I should be all recovered, but my average pace for my 7.5 miles today was 11:40/mile. Pathetic, really. Granted, there were quite a few hills, and it was a little better than Friday's run, because I added an extra half mile and finished in the same time, but I'm just feeling really discouraged. I definitely need new shoes; my left foot is nagging me, and I know this pair is past it's mileage. Also, I've just been so busy and been letting my schedule get way to crazy, so I've been neglecting all of the healthy eating and hydrating habits I worked so hard to learn at the beginning.

So... things I MUST start doing again after this week so I can run better:
1. Get new shoes.
2. HYDRATE! 1 - 2 liters a day of plain water, plus whatever else I drink... coffee, tea, gatorade, (beer, wine, vodka... I mean...), etc.
3. Start going to yoga regularly! I have 1 Living Social and 1 Groupon for month yoga studio memberships. I WILL use them before I go home for Christmas. Neglecting my core strength and overall flexibility is probably not helping at all.
4. Eat healthy, even if it costs more money. I've been super worried about money lately, but things are slowly straightening out. I need to go back to planning my meals for the week, and include some of those amazing super foods and plenty of protein.

Ok, pact to myself. Get through this crazy week, then get back on track. I've been training for so long, and we're getting so close. I can't give up now.

Days 135 - 141: Workout disaster week

Ohmygosh it's been a whole week I fail.

This past week was all over the place. So much rearranging. Monday my legs were still tired, so I did an arm and ab workout and practiced belly dancing. Tuesday neither Chris nor I could run because we both had very full crazy days that started early and ended late, so I switched my Tuesday and Wednesday workouts and used belly dancing class as my cross training Tuesday and ran 7 miles after work on Wednesday. My run was mediocre... blame it on still recovering. Since I ran Wednesday, I couldn't run until Friday, so I switched Thursday and Friday's workouts too, and used Thursday as my rest day and ran 7 miles again Friday afternoon. That run was HORRIBLE. I was slow and tight and heavy and my stomach hurt and I think I was pretty dehydrated since I hadn't been paying attention to how much water I'd been drinking that day. Ugh.

Saturday was normal. Well, normal in that it was cross training but awesome in that my cross training was white water rafting! We took a trip up to the mountains in Tennessee for a weekend of outdoor adventure in celebration of Randy's birthday. This rafting trip was way more work than last time, so my abs and arms got a great workout and the adrenaline definitely got my heart going. We also went on a 3 - 4 mile hike later that afternoon. (It was only supposed to be like 2.5, but we got lost. Oh well. Can't hurt to burn some extra calories and build those stabilizing muscles in my legs!) Because we were away, I couldn't do a long run today, So Chris and I have moved our long run to Wednesday afternoon when he gets done at school. Which means I'll have to do a "short" run tomorrow instead of Tuesday, and no running today. Instead, my workout today was a three hour zip line tour through the canopy of the North Georgia forest. I actually hate heights, so it was kind of terrifying. But the zipping required lots of arms and abs, and we hiked between posts, so it was a good all-over workout, and tons of fun... once I got used to it.

Hopefully I'm all recovered now, so tomorrow's run will be decent. Might have to get creative again, since it's going to be another crazy workout week...

Day 134: NEW HALF MARATHON PR!!!!!!!

What a fabulous race! We ran the 13.1 series half marathon at 7:00 a.m. at Oglethorpe University. The weather was slightly chilly but perfect for running. The course was different than I was expecting; most races I've run have been along main streets, so there are bands and big crowds. But this one wound through shady neighborhoods with huge houses, so it was a pretty quiet run, although the hydration stations were well-staffed with tons of cheering boy scouts, cheerleaders, college students, and other volunteers crazy enough to be up at that hour and standing out in the cold on a Sunday morning.

We were warned in advance that the course would be hilly, and for most of the beginning of the course, it was... but it was sort of rolling hills through the neighborhood behind the University, so while it was challenging, it wasn't horrible. We definitely run bigger hills on our training runs. We made fantastic time. We must have been at 10:00 min. or less per mile for at least the first 5 miles. My knee wasn't bothering me at all, so I just decided to take advantage of it while I could and really push, so that if I had to slow down later due to pain, it wouldn't be as detrimental to our time. But actually, it never started hurting. My left foot and my right calf cramped pretty badly towards the end, but my knee never bothered me, although now it screams at me every time I attempt to walk up or down stairs. Back to stretching and icing.

We were really amazing until mile 10... which was entirely up hill on a narrow path through a park until well into mile 11. We lost a lot of time there; I was actually really frustrated about it because I couldn't believe how well we were doing, and if it wasn't for that horrible section, I think we could have done even better. The end of the course was mean too... you had to run downhill past the finish line a long way, only to turn around and have to finish uphill. Cruel. But... our time was 2:14:57! That's 3:28 off of my best time, from our first half marathon last Thanksgiving, which was a much easier course. Our goal before I hurt myself was 2:!5, and even with my knee we broke that goal. Every time we passed a clock at the mile markers, I was astounded at our time, and even with our time lost in mile 10, I knew we would beat our previous time when we passed the clock at mile 11. It was exhilarating. I am soooooo excited and happy.

The after party was excellent as well. There was a live band and they had bagels, apples, bananas, cookies, popsicles, and sausage biscuits for us, as well as the usual athletic gear expo booths. And, even better, one of the fitness clubs who cosponsored the event was giving away free hot dogs and beer if you stopped by after the race. FREE BEER. There is nothing I want more after a long run than a beer... fastest way to replenish both water and carbs at a nice cold temperature, right? Conveniently, the club was on our way back to MARTA, so of course we had to stop. Brilliant idea.

I'm sore and exhausted from getting up at 5 and running so hard and not sleeping much last night because of my nerves. But I could not be happier with how the race went. Especially since I was expecting it to go so poorly. Next up: Thanksgiving Day half marathon. Next time goal: 2:10. But the two will probably not happen at the same time, which is ok. I'm going to be pretty excited about this run for awhile, so I can wait a year to set a new PR. :-)

Days 131 - 133: Pre-race jitters

So... I tried to run Thursday afternoon. Pretty bad. I went really, REALLY slowly at first, and I made it about 3 miles without hurting. But I had to cut it a mile short and only did 5 miles total because after that I was just in too much pain. I took yesterday "off," although I probably ended up walking about 3 miles, since I had to walk to campus and back for a seminar, and then went to the Brave's game, where the bus parked so far away we might as well have walked from home. I was going to go to yoga today, too, but the game was epically long last night, so I didn't go to bed until 2:00, and way overslept, so I just ran out of time. So today I guess was another rest day, which it was marked as anyway, but I still feel slightly guilty after my short run Thursday. I'm hoping the extra time off is good for my knee, I guess.

Chris and I went to pick up our race numbers today. This must be a pretty small race; packet pick up was in a pretty small room and there really was no expo, just registration, information, and a small athletic gear booth. Not nearly as exciting as the Thanksgiving or ING expos... kind of sad, really... I always look forward to walking around and getting free samples and looking at shoes and gear that I can never afford.

I'm super nervous for tomorrow. It would be awesome to beat our time from last year's Thanksgiving half marathon. But this course specifically warns you about how hilly it is, so that's factor number one that makes me unhopeful. Number two is my knee... I'm so scared it will hurt too bad for me to finish, or that I'll have to walk most of it, or that I'll hurt so badly by the end of it I'll have to take off a lot of time from training. I really just want to be able to finish without the truck having to pick me up because I'm too slow, and still be ok enough afterwards to not have to take more than a week off. I doubt I'll sleep tonight... too nervous. Wish me luck...