Let the countdown begin

Half marathon number two is only 14 hours, 25 minutes, and 20 seconds away........................well, the start that is. The finish is a little farther off than that, I just don't know how much farther. Distance wise it is 13.1 miles, but timewise is anyone's guess at this point.

My fan club (all 6 of you) seems to think I can finish in under 3 hours with no problem, but I'm not so sure. Although my training this year went better than last year, it still wasn't everything I wanted it to be. That's life though. My Mom used to tell me that life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. So true! Planning on running 8 miles the Sunday before race day? I don't think so, have some knee pain and 5 hours of snow on long run day! Planning on getting in a few 3 milers to keep loose the week before the race? I don't think so, here's three 12 hour days at the office in a row!

#soannoying

It is what it is! The start line is almost upon me and training is behind me. I have those first time jitters out of the way. Although I'm still really nervous, the fear of the unknown is not present. I know I can run 13.1 miles because I've done it before. Not only will I do it again, but I will beat my previous time, I'm confident in that. And it's just a bonus that it will be above freezing this year, albeit potentially raining. I'll take rain over frozen sweat anyday!

According to Nike app, I am expected to finish in 3:04:19. That's an estimated 14 minute PR if I can pull it off (I finished last year in 3:18:18). I have a feeling Sandy is going to push me with her perky self as always. So excited I won't be running alone this year! I will also have the hubby supporting me at several spots along the route by riding his bike again this year. Thanks in advance babe!

Goal #1:  FINISH

Goal #2:  FINISH UNDER 3:10

Goal #3:  FINISH UNDER 3:00

And to all the haters out there that think I'm running half of something tomorrow, feast your eyes on this..................

If you'll excuse me, I need to go stuff my face with potato and get my beauty rest!

MIND OVER MATTER

Down But Not Out!

I got one run in this week..................O-N-E!!!

It was Wednesday and it was 27 degrees at 6:30 with no sunlight. I was supposed to do 4 miles but settled for a 5k. I'm a bit of a fair weather runner...................who knew!

Friday rolled around and I just didn't feel like it. Too cold, too BLAH!

I was going to do 8 miles yesterday, but my knee has been bothering me. I handled 10 miles last weekend with no problem. I felt fine during the 5k on Wednesday. For some reason my knee started bothering me Friday afternoon. I have no idea what I did to it, but I got up from my desk at one point and couldn't believe how much it was hurting. There's no telling!

So I didn't run yesterday. My knee is feeling better today, but it started snowing this morning and the last thing I need 6 days before the race is to slip and break something or tweak my knee even worse. So I stayed in bed..................until 9:30! It was blissful.

But now I find myself feeling like a sloth. I haven't run in 4 days and it's quite depressing. I haven't even left the house today. I spend all my time running myself ragged (literally) and then when I do have a day where I do nothing I feel completely worthless. What is up with that?!?!

Only 6 days, 15 hours, 15 minutes, and 10 seconds until the race (but who's counting)!

The plan for this week is to get a 4 miler in on Tuesday, 3 miles on Thursday, leave the office early on Friday (yeah right) to go to packet pickup, and then do an easy 2 miler before going to dinner for my birthday Friday.

Not running puts me in a serious funk! I think that's why I hate winter (I loathe the treadmill)!!!

If you see me moping around during the cold months, now you know why! Mother nature can bite me!!!

MIND OVER MATTER

10 miles (the hard way)

Today I completed 10 miles for the second time in my life. The only other time I have reached 10 miles was during the half marathon last year.

Last year I let life get in the way fat girl style and only reached 9 miles during my training. I planned to reach 12 miles during training this year, but again, life got in the way (this is becoming a recurring theme and I don't like it).

Stats:  10.00 miles / 2:21:17 / 14'07" per mile average

Not record breaking speed, but I finished. I was joined again by miss perky face herself (that would be Sandy for those of you not following along). She was a pleasure as always. She graced my ear drums with renditions of Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton, super old school. Don't think I could've done it without her small words of encouragement. After our 9 miles last Sunday, she signed-up to run the half marathon with me. I am so pumped!

Only 13 more days until the race!!!

Last year I finished in 3:29:04 with an average pace of 15'22" per mile. My primary goal this year is to finish (as always). My secondary goal is to beat 3:10:00. Sandy is convinced that I can do it in under 3 hours, but I'm not so sure. I don't want to set a goal and not meet it, so let's just call sub 3 hours my "thirdary" goal (or whatever word is appropriate for a goal after your secondary goal).

This past week I had another rough one with life in general. Work is still kicking my ass and I didn't feel well all week; sore throat, tight chest, headache, and clogged up ears. Needless to say I did not run at all this week. Not a single step since my 9 miles last week. I don't know why I keep doing that to myself. It makes the weekend runs so much harder. I have got to be more dedicated to every single run for the next two weeks or I might just get out there and fall over when I try to do 13.1 miles. I'm tired of doing this the hard way!!!

Here's to no more "starting over" on Sundays!

MIND OVER MATTER

9 Blissful Miles

Today reminded me of why I love running. It hurt and it was cold and windy and even rained at one point. But it was amazing!

It doesn't take much to get better than last week's 8 miler. That was horrendous and I would love to just forget about it.

While I didn't get all my mileage in this week because of work, I did get one 4 mile run in on Tuesday. I think that combined with sleeping in on Saturday and catching up on some zzzzzz's made for a MUCH better long run today.

The bottom line is it doesn't matter how tired I am, Sunday is long run day and there are only 20 days left until the race! No time to sit here and be tired:

 





I have thought several times over the last month about throwing in the towel on training for this half marathon. Work is just so crazy right now that it's hard to justify spending hours each week training for a race. It just feels selfish. But dammit I've worked hard to get where I am and all of that would be gone in less than 2 weeks! So I keep going..................

Sandy ran with me today and it was awesome. I could've done without the 15 mph wind in my face heading South, but I don't control the weather, I just bitch about it.

Stats:  9.00 miles / 2:04:21 / 13'48" per mile average

The last time I ran 9 miles I averaged 14'36" per mile (more progress - slow and steady).

I'm starting to think that I could do this race in under 3 hours. More about that later, but that's the goal (aside from finishing of course).

A lot of people ask me why I started running, much less decided to run a half marathon. They think it's so I can lose weight or stay fit or whatever else they imagine. But that's not it at all. Honestly, it's about setting a goal and accomplishing it no matter what life throws at you.

 

MIND OVER MATTER (badass style)

8 MILES (what happened to 7?)

I completed 8 miles today! IT. WAS. AWFUL.

I am so damn tired right now I can't even begin to explain it. Work is kicking my ass and the emotional exhaustion is taking a toll on my body. This last week I missed both of my short runs and all of my cross training (14 hour days at the office will do that to you). I hadn't run since my 7 miler last Sunday. That's right, I ran 7 miles last Sunday, but you didn't know about it because I didn't have time to update the blog. Such a travesty!

Those 7 miles last Sunday were blissful. I ran alone, which isn't my first choice, but I made it through okay. The first 2  miles were tough as usual but I got in a groove and before I knew it I was done.

7 miler stats:  7.00 miles / 1:34:52 / 13'33" per mile

The last time I ran 7 miles my average was 15'22"...............so much progress =)

And then there was today! Riverside literally kicked my tail. Sandy ran with me, thank God, because I don't think I would've made it 100 yards by myself. Not running for a whole week has a tendency to make your body say "WTF are you doing?" when you pick it back up again and try to run 8 miles. There was A LOT of walking today, and my average pace suffered because of it, but I finished! We got 2 miles in and I started telling Sandy every quarter mile or so "I'm not going to make it.......I can't do this.......I'm too tired.......my legs aren't working". I'm sure I was a real peach to run with today (sorry Sandy). Her response each and every time was "you've got this!". Every time she would say it I wanted to scream NO I DON'T! But she was right in the end. I kept pushing and eventually we finished. I have never felt that much physical exhaustion during a run. I have had to push through mental walls in the past and I've even had to push through not wanting to run at all. But today was different; today I had all the mental toughness in the world and I wanted to run, but my body was just not cooperating.

8 miler stats:  8.00 miles / 1:57:15 / 14'39" per mile

I haven't averaged over 14 minutes per mile in a long time so that is a tough pill to swallow, but you do what you have to do to finish, and today that meant frequent walking breaks.

Sandy was telling me about a grumpy cat pic she saw recently that made me laugh histerically and it also reminds me of us on our long runs. See if you can guess which on is me..............

My 6 miler in pictures

I didn't exactly stick to the training plan this week, but I did MOST of it, only lacked 2 miles!

Got up early Tuesday morning and ran 3 miles before catching a flight to Denver for work. On Wednesday I ran 1 mile at Red Rocks Amphitheater at 6,500 feet (yes, I was gasping for air the ENTIRE time). I was scheduled to run 2 miles on Friday, but I didn't land from Denver until 1:15 Friday morning and then worked until 7 pm. This fat girl's body was TIRED folks. Needless to say, there was zero running going on Friday.

BUT, I got my 6 miler in this morning.

Stats:  6.00 miles / 1:21:30 / 13'35" average

The last 6 mile run I completed was on October 16th, 2013 and I averaged 14'27" (more progress - slow and steady).

Today, I shall give you a recap of my 6 miles in pictures!
(Disclaimer - none of these pictures are actually of me)

MILE 1:

"This sucks"

MILE 2:

"Speaks for itself"

MILE 3:

"Warmed up now, here comes the motivational talk"

MILE 4:

"I love running"

MILE 5:

 

"I super duper LOVE running"

MILE 5.5:

"Why do I do this?"

MILE 6 (FINISH):

"Thank God it's over!!!"

MIND OVER MATTER Y'ALL

Running in my sleep

I know me! I know that when I travel for work I have the best intentions to get my runs in while I'm away. I also know that 9 times out of 10 it doesn't matter what my intentions are, it doesn't happen. I end up working late or there is some group dinner that I feel like I need to attend or I am sharing a rental car with two other people and I'm "stuck" doing whatever they're doing for the evening (all excuses, but valid ones so shut your pie hole).

With all that in mind, I got my cranky self up at 5:45 this morning, rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, laced up my running shoes, and hit the pavement to get my 3 miles in for today. I had a 9:45 flight this morning to Denver so I had time to get my run in before I had to get ready to head to the airport.

Grumpy cat was out in full force this morning y'all! It's a good thing I was the only one on the sidewalk at 6 in the morning because I might have throat punched the first person I saw just for good measure. I'm not exactly a morning person in case you hadn't already picked up on that.

Stats:  3.00 miles / 40:11 / 13'23" average

Not the greatest pace on the planet, but it's MY pace, and I ran 3 miles. BEFORE THE SUN CAME UP!

I swear I was half asleep for the first mile. I remember hearing Nike lady say 'one mile completed' and thinking "WHAAAAAT?"! It's like when you're driving home from work on autopilot and you pull in the driveway with no recollection of how you got there. This happens to me frequently in the car (scary, I know) but it's never happened to me while running. I could get used to that!

I walked a bit at the 1 mile mark as usual, but when I hit the 2 mile mark I felt good and just decided I might as well get it over with as fast as possible so I ran until I was done. Basically it was two full miles (less 100 yards walking give or take) of running! Yay me!!!

I leave you with this:

Good thing it was dark this morning =)

MIND OVER MATTER