At least one mile a day from Thanksgiving to New Year's.
Who's with me?
My run motivation has been next to nothing since Tyranena, and even with a race (or two) this week, I can't seem to get my ass on the treadmill.
I expect a certain amount of waxing and waning of motivation and mileage between seasons, goal races, etc., but I am ready to get back on the horse.
Even my mom is in on it! She may have had a beer or two in her when she enthusiastically committed to it, but now it's on the internets so she has to. Right Mom?
Oh you think so, don't you?
She's going to be running her third half marathon in May, and what better way to kick off the training?
My mom is cooler than your mom.
As for me, I've never been able to run through the winter (pregnancy, injury) and I really want to set myself up for some great, more aggressive training in the spring.
Run Streak 2012: Are you in? Have you ever done one before? I haven't done one, and I'm looking forward to seeing if I can keep with it. Although I have a sneaking suspicion I'm going to have to fight so that my DailyMile is not exactly seven miles a week. Ha.
What's the next big race you're training for? I don't have another big race til April, and I think that is part of my motivation issue. Running in the USA, here I come.
Hey guys. So, I started a new job recently, bartending at a nice sports bar pretty close to my house. We need a little extra money, I love tending bar, and I was really lucky to get hired right away. Win, win, motherfucking win. But things took a sharp dive into self-loathing when I walked into the bar on my first day. I was full of confidence (with a few nervous butterflies), and then I noticed the girl behind the bar. I don't want to exaggerate, but this girl was gorgeous. Beautiful waist length blonde hair, super cute clothes, model-perfect features, blindingly white teeth... you get the picture. I looked down at my ill-fitting jeans, my running shoes, and my long sleeve t-shirt that a half hour before had been "cute" and "approachable" and now was screaming "schlub". Shit. I haven't exactly "let myself go" since I became a stay-at-home mom, but I was feeling a little like this:
Over the next few shifts, I met some of the other bartenders. Some were guys, some were girls, all were gorgeous. Mother of God.
I'm not all "oh woe is me, I'm so ugly" most of the time, but damn. My inner freshman in high school was coming out as I nervously tugged at my clothes and looked at myself disgustedly in the bathroom mirror. "wahhh I'll NEVER get elected to homecoming court!!!" So anyway. I decided to get my brassy straggly hair cut and colored in an attempt to restore a little self-confidence. Because really, I can't change this:
That shit is here to stay.
But, with a small fortune and the skilled hands of an expert, I can change this:
Make it better here, and here, and here....
Several hours later, I emerged from the salon with a head of shiny brown, much shorter hair.
Yes, I always look this tired, thanks for noticing.
Pretty hair makes me ANGRRRYY...
Do you have any self-confidence boosting rituals that pump you up before you are forced in to be in the presence of unnaturally good looking people? In college, my roommate and I would take shots and dance in our underwear to "Get Low" before we went out to the bars. Classy. What makes your self-confidence waver? In this situation, I wouldn't feel so down on myself if I was really confident in what I was doing. But new job = being suckier than everyone else = sad face.
Before I give you the play-by-play of this glorious race and even more glorious drunken debauchery, let me first say: Run a Ragnar.
Running Ragnar Chicago was actually a pretty big frustrating mess with bright shiny moments of hysterical laughter and team spirit interspersed throughout. It was one of those things you don't really appreciate until a few weeks out - far enough out the disappointment doesn't sting so badly, but not so far that you can't remember the raunchy inside jokes and the little things you learn about someone after sharing a cramped, panty-strewn van for 36 hours.
The reason to run a Ragnar, however, doesn't have anything to do with the race itself. It's this:
Sigh. I love these women so, so much. I can only hope at our next reunion we'll have all 12 of us!
So anyway, the race.
We ran the Tyranena half marathon, which is awesome. It's pretty small, incredibly well-run, and just beautiful. The course has rolling hills for the first half, an unofficial beer stop (be still my heart), and enough scenic diversity to get your mind off of the task at hand.
Something I should mention here: I was SICK. Sick sick. It started on Thursday, and when I woke up on Saturday morning, my throat was on fire and my sinsuses felt like they were going to explode.
I wasn't sure I was going to run, but I got such a boost of energy from seeing my girls and the race hoopla, I lined up with everyone else at the start.
Rachel and I made a quick decision to run together - we both wanted a buddy and I didn't want to be tempted to start racing when I got out there.
We were only a couple of miles in when I realized our pace would put Rachel really close to a PR. Hmmm.
She ran an awesome race right up until the end when she surprised the hell out of me with a seriously fast finishing kick. We held hands (because we're secret lovers) when we crossed the finish line and it couldn't have been cheesier.
OK, we might have held hands at other times besides the finish line. Don't judge.
We finished around 2:00:30, which was great for a somewhat difficult course. So proud of Rachie - she fought the whole way.
As for me, the race felt like an easy long run. At the risk of sounding boastful, I have no idea when a 2:00 hour half became easy for me. It makes me reassess my running goals for sure.
So that's that. I'm still a little sick, but hopping back on the treadmill today to try to run the last of it out.
Basically, it's a tiny elf that prepares your child for a life of constant criticism and ubiquitous surveillance.
Oh, what I meant to say is it's a fun holiday tradition that involves putting a tiny overpriced elf in different places in your house to remind your children not to be naughty, or the elf will report back to Santa when it makes its nightly flight back to the North Pole.
So anyway, the idea has evolved into putting the elf in naughty situations around the house, and people get pretty creative with this thing:
Elf knows how to partayyyy
Oh yeah. Get some you smily little bastard.
It was the wine.
It's a rough life.
So, anyway, we don't do this tradition, mainly because I can scare my children adequately on my own thankyouverymuch, but also because hell if I'm going to waste an entire bag of mini-marshmallows on a sink bath for a creepy little doll.
But, I nearly reconsidered as I was spending some quality time with my foam roller the other day and saw a piece from the kids' foam block set:
If I had an Elf on the Shelf, you can bet my kids would be waking up to him working on his IT bands.
Had you heard of Elf on the Shelf? Do you have any ridiculous holiday traditions?
You're a bit early this year, yes? Where are we, the second week of fall and you've already made your grand arrival?
It snowed yesterday, just a little. My kids freaked out - they don't remember the snow last year and they were pretty pumped. Also, I've been sick. I had the pukes yesterday on top of an annoying cold I've had since Monday.
So, I've been feeling a bit under the weather... and sadly my 31 day workout streak took a big shit. Because I don't work out when I'm sick, usually. That whole "If it's above the neck, it's ok to run" bullshit is so stupid. Pretty sure you should not be running through migraines and sinus infections, but whatever.
I like to run when I'm just on the tail end of a sickness... like several an IPAs after a bad day, it seems like it helps me get over it faster.
So, I have a plan to fight the winter blahs, and I'm pretty excited about it. Last winter, I was awesome at getting up super early and getting to the gym nearly every day, and I'm ready to do it again. Plus, a new session starts at the Y on Monday... ahhh serendipity.
Want to see it? I know you do....
Monday - 6am - 7am - Power Vinyasa Yoga (because it is the best thing ever and it's easy to get out of bed for a 90 degree studio). Later on, an interval run on the treadmill while my babies nap.
Tuesday - Easy run in the a.m.
Wednesday - 5:30am-6:30am - Bootcamp class at the Y with a crazy badass instructor that reminds me of Rose
Thursday - Tempo run baby. Best day of the week.
Friday - 6:00am-7:00am HIIT class at the Y, then swim swim swimeroo for a half hour or so.
September 2012 will go down in the books as a incredibly mediocre fitness month with one huge deviation from that mediocrity. Namely, I sat on my ass a bunch, but ran a marathon.
September Recap
Miles Ran:90 (exactly the same as August!)
Cross Training Workouts Completed:Uhh, zero? Would you believe zero? First time for everything...
Meters Swam:0. Awesome.
Highest Run Mileage Week:34 <------- highest mileage week ever, unless you count running all of that at one time...
Current Triumph:I ran my first marathon. And I lived to write about it.
Current Goals:
31 DAY STREAK!!!Clearly, I need some extra motivation... so I am going to shame myself into getting in at least one workout every day during the month of October.
On Sunday, I ran the Fox Cities marathon, and it was... different than I thought it would be.
Let's start at the beginning...
I woke up on Sunday after a great night of sleep, hopped in the shower, and enjoyed half of a bagel with peanut butter and honey, some Gatorade, and a cup of coffee.
Decked out in the PR purple with my PureFlows, homemade armwarmers, and rufflebums.
The drive to the start was exceptionally pleasant because I got to ride with my husband and my beautiful friend Kim, who was also running her first marathon. Side note: she BQ'd, and I (spoiler alert) did not. ha.
We met up with a bunch of awesome runners at the start:
It was COLD out. I'm not sure of the exact temperature, but it was right around freezing, and my Raynaud's was acting up in full force.
I wasn't paying attention to the time, and suddenly everyone was running to the start, and I found my way into the pack around the 5:00 hour pacer, and lost all of my friends. An even bigger bummer, I didn't get to see my sister-in-law Kathy before the start to wish her luck on her first half (turns out, she didn't need it! :))
My strategy for the race was pretty straightforward:
Divide the race into six parts - five 5 mile chunks, and the last 1.2 miles.
Run the first 5 mile chunk slower than any of the others
Negative Split
Dance, cheer, sing, have a party out there.
Come in under 4:30:00
Miles 1 - 5 | 10:12, 10:25, 10:03, 10:19, 10:13 | Total - 51:25 | Avg: 10:17
The first few miles just flew by. Matt and I high-fived at each mile, and it seemed like we were constantly seeing mile markers, which was great.
The not-so-great part was the pace felt hard. I was fairly steady around 10:15 miles, and I swear, they felt like 8:30s. My feet were numb, my breathing was a little labored, and I felt... worn out. Not terrible, just not as fantastic as I had hoped I'd feel.
Miles 5 - 9 | 10:02, 9:58, 9:59, 9:57, 9:52 | Total - 49:52 | Avg: 9:58
These miles went by a little more smoothly - I wasn't checking my Garmin nearly as much as I did at first. The fear of starting off too fast was slowly fading, and I was regaining feeling in my feet.
We saw our awesome cheerleaders for the second time around mile 8, and it was such a pick-me-up.
This section was the hilliest portion of the course. Nothing crazy, but definitely enough long inclines to throw the pace off a little bit.
After the 10 mile mark, we ran through a gauntlet of middle school cheerleaders who were absolutely frenzied with excitement - it was AWESOME. I never knew I wanted 30 twelve-year-olds to scream my name hysterically, but as it turns out, I did. And it was amazing.
Shortly after that, I had to take pitstop number one of the day. In an out in less than 90 seconds... not too shabby.
As Matt and I neared the halfway point, he let me know he was going to drop back and walk a bit soon. I was feeling really good and was bummed to lose my buddy, but not worried about going it alone.
I hit the halfway at 2:13:46, and thought to myself, "I am not ready for this to be halfway done!" I was having a blast.
Miles 15-19 | 10:07, 9:56, 9:59, 9:45, 9:36 | Total - 49:32 | Avg: 9:54
I really started getting into my groove. I saw my awesome spectators again at mile 16, and shortly thereafter, we turned west, and into the WIND. Whoa. It was pretty windy (I found out later it was gusting to 25 mph), but it definitely gave me something to talk about with other runners!
The main thing I remember from the segment was how many people had already started walking. I passed dozens and dozens of people, and was feeling really strong. I tried to pass on encouraging words to the runners I passed, and heard "This WIND!" more times than I can count.
Miles 20-25 | 9:56, 10:05, 12:29 (ha), 9:50, 9:36 | Total - 52:08 | Avg: 10:25
Mile 20 was AWESOME! I even gave a little flying leap at the aid station (side note: I do not recommend this), and saw my cheerleaders again. I also saw Amy for the fourth time that day as she was waiting to start her relay leg. She gave me solid advice, "Hey, Kim! Go run a 10k!"
Predictably, after mile 20, it got a little rougher. I started feeling like I was ready to be done, and the miles were dragging. Right around 22, I had a sudden, urgent feeling. Yeah. That feeling.
I went from "Oh, hey, look at that funny sign... man.. I'm kind of tired... I wonder how Matt's doing..." to "Oh my god, I'm going to shit my pants. I'm going to shit my pants. I'm not a fast enough runner to get away with shitting my pants during a marathon".
Thankfully, I spotted a lone porta-potty up ahead.
I don't want to get too graphic with you guys, but this was a long, frustrating, fruitless three minutes in the crapper.
I actually laughed for awhile in that porta-potty (probably seriously concerning the passing runners). There's just something about going from the solid, rhythmic sound of your footfalls for four hours, the wind rushing past your face, to sitting in a hot, cramped little hut trying pretty unsuccessfully to poop that struck me funny.
I saw my awesome mommy at 23, and I told her that I was ok, but ready to be done. That was a very lonely mile, and it was so great to see her.
Around mile 24, things got rough emotionally. I was disappointed in my pace, pretty positive a negative split was out of the picture, and tired.
I also had forgotten that the course took us up and over a bridge next to Theda Clark Hospital. It's where I gave birth to my babies, and where my dad lost his life.
As I ran up the bridge, I could see the Children's Hospital where my littlest guy was stuck in an isolette for the first two weeks of his life. Just past that, I saw the concrete stairs leading to a little side entrance where my brother, husband, and I spent so much time while my dad was on life support.
I lost it. The tears were streaming and my breath was coming in ragged gasps. I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. I blew a kiss the hospital where I had lost and gained so much, and crested the hill.
I cruised down the backside to the cheers of volunteers and spectators, and spotted Nick, who was such a welcome sight.
Last 1.2 | Total - 11:47| Avg: 9:49
He ran with me for about a quarter of a mile, then cut across the park to be able to see me cross the finish line.
As I rounded the corner and saw the finish line a few hundred yards away, I willed it to come closer. I picked up my pace just a little, and enjoyed the cheers of the crowd.
I raised my arms and took the last few strides of my first marathon.
When I crossed, I didn't cry, I didn't collapse, I just smiled. I was happy. I was emotionally and physically exhausted, and so very glad to be done.
I'm still digesting my feelings about this race, but they've been vacillating wildly between disappointment, relief, sadness, and pride since Sunday. I'm still glad to be done, but I'm already planning my next one.
Bottom line: Running 26.2 miles was harder than I thought it was going to be.
If they could make a bumper sticker that says "26.2 Miles - That Shit Ain't Easy" I'd be all over that.
Check back later this week for all of the post-race fun and some reflection on my goals - some were met, and some were definitely not.
But it is important to note... I BEAT OPRAH!!!!!!!! :)
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