JUST DAMN!

I am sick and tired of life getting in the way. JUST DAMN!!!

Two weeks ago, I was in Denver for work and missed 8 of my 11 miles that I was supposed to run that week.

This past week I was in Baton Rouge for work and I missed one of my week night 3 milers. "No big deal" I thought; "I'll get back on track"!

This morning I was due for a 6 mile long run. My mind said "LET'S DO THIS!"

My body said "NO EFFING WAY!!!"

I'm still pissed about it and it was over 10 hours ago. I only completed 3 miles! WHISKEY. TANGO. FOXTROT.

I was the shadow on the wall in this picture:

My mind kept pleading with me to be the fit blonde girl pushing through the pain, but my body was feeling the affects of missed training runs. It never ceases to amaze me how long it takes to build up your endurance versus how quickly it all goes away by missing just a few days.

The good news is that the half marathon is far enough off that I can hit the reset button and get back on track. I don't have any other trips planned for work so that will help.

Honestly, I need to start putting myself first. When I have a run planned and someone says "hey, wanna go X, Y, or Z?", the answer is probably going to be HELL NO!

Tuesday evening, Thursday evening, and Saturday morning will be off limits (unless it's baseball season and then I will have to just figure out the Saturday thing because the kiddos come first).

No more "I'm too tired" or "I don't feel like it"! I need to quit being such a whiner and get out there and effing run! Otherwise before I know it I will be back to barely being able to run a mile without feeling like I'm going to die.

Tomorrow is a new day! I will conquer it!!!

MIND OVER MATTER

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

So let me just start off by saying this weekend was a biyatch! It's like all the forces of the Earth are conspiring against me and the universe is this damn dodge ball that keeps smacking me in the face! I mean come on, can a sister get a break.......

All that being said, I didn't run my 5 miles this weekend. Life handed me lemons and instead of throwing them at mean people, I just sat motionless with lemons piling up in my lap. I did get a 2 mile walk in with a friend yesterday (thanks Michelle)! It was nice to just walk and chat for a change.

Today it was back to business with a 3 miler. I didn't do as bad as I thought (averaged 13'15"). I really needed this run tonight. It showed me that I am in control, screw the universe and its dodge balls!!!

I got this! Bring it on universe, hit me with your best shot, I dare ya!!!

MIND OVER MATTER

Cross Training in Colorado

So I was supposed to run 3 miles while in Denver last week, but I didn't. What I did was MUCH better in my opinion.

I set out to run three miles, but it just wasn't in the cards.

Ever heard of Red Rocks Amphitheater? It is supposedly the best place to see a concert in the whole universe due to it's natural acoustical wonderfulness. What most people don't know is that it's also a place where a ton of locals go to workout. It's also the location where Chris Powell from Extreme Weight Loss takes his clients for their fight or flight workout, so I've seen it on TV several times.

Red Rocks was only a 20 minute drive from my hotel, so I decided I would drive out there and run. There are three parking lots for Red Rocks. The one at the base of the foothills contains an entrance to a dirt trail that is just a little over 1 mile up to the amphitheater. PERFECT! I'll just park there, run the trail, run 1 mile in the seats of the amphitheater doing switchbacks, and then run back. 3 miles done. WRONG!!!

I got out of the car and just walking to the trail was a struggle. I was wheezing and huffing and puffing trying to catch my breath and I was just walking, albeit at 6,500 feet above sea level. I got to the trail head and just waited there a moment trying to catch my breath. I took off on the dirt trail and it was okay at first, then I hit the 'rock stairs'. Seriously? Stairs on a trail. What is up with that Colorado?!?!?! There was dirt all over the "stairs" and I kept losing my footing. All the while I'm huffing and puffing and feeling like I'm going to pass smooth out. I decided to walk about a quarter mile in, this ish is for the birds! I ended up hiking up to the amphitheater, but that's okay. Good cross training and I got some BEAUTIFUL pictures once I stopped trying to kill myself and just enjoyed the view:

I was able to run the entire amphitheater once I got there. It's a little easier when it's flat and you're not slipping on dirt under your shoes and climbing up rock stairs! My body had also acclimated to the altitude a bit at this point so I wasn't gasping for every breath. You would not believe the number of people out there working out. It was like a nature made Cross Fit gym right there in the foot hills. So awesome. Just past the stage on the amphitheater you could see downtown Denver off in the distance. I can safely say this was the most scenic run I've ever had.

Running the amphitheater goes a little like this; climb the stairs to the top, run the first 'aisle' (or seating area), plod down to the next 'aisle' and run back the other direction, repeat repeat repeat! After running the entire thing in this manner I totaled 1.76 miles at 13'16" per mile (not too bad).

Then I had to hike back down the trail to get to the car. In total I got in almost 4 miles, I just didn't run it all. Oh well! Sometimes things don't go exactly as you plan. Actually, things NEVER go exactly as I plan, but that's just life!

Case in point, I was supposed to run 3 miles on Thursday after getting home from Denver, but I was just too tired. I do realize that should never be an excuse to skip a training run, but dammit I didn't want to. I wanted to spend time with my kids and just do NOTHING. So that's what I did.

Problem with that is now I'm staring another 5 mile training run in the face this afternoon and I haven't really RUN since last Sunday. It really sucks when life gets in the way, but 'IT IS WHAT IT IS'.

Work is hectic right now to say the least and I am emotionally exhausted at the end of every day, but I will get my training runs in one day at a time and show that half marathon who's boss!

MIND OVER MATTER

I. AM. GRUMPY. CAT!

Five mile long run is in the books!

5.00 miles / 1:04:06 / 12'48" per mile average

One thing I love about the Nike running app is that it keeps track of random stats that show my progress when I really need to see it. Such as the fact that during the month of August I averaged 14'06" per mile for a total of 21.2 miles and so far in the month of September I have averaged 13'06" per mile for a total of 21.1 miles (and counting). Progress? OH I THINK SO!!!

Was today my most comfortable run ever? Hell no! But I did it................it doesn't always have to be rainbows and glitter.

I ran with Sandy again (always a pleasure), so the miles passed by fairly quickly. Except for those first two. I hate those first two miles. If I could just skip that part altogether I would be a happy girl, but I can't, so I'm pretty grumpy at the beginning of these runs. When I know I only have 3 miles total, I'm good. But on long runs, especially those that start at 7:30 am, I am grumpy cat until I reach that 2 mile mark.

We're plodding along this morning and about 1/2 a mile in we pass some guy out for a morning stroll and Sandy says "good morning" all perky and happy! I'm huffing and puffing and thinking 'really perky britches? - what is so good about THIS?'............I'm grumbling to her about my calves hurting and my breathing being heavy and the color of the sky and she's like "we've got this". I know she's right, I'm just not a morning person, and I secretly hate running; not really sure why I do it to be honest, except that I love how I feel when I'm done (honestly that's the BEST part of this whole thing).

We ran some pretty decent hills today and I was feeling it. I hate hate hate hills, but they are a necessary evil, so I can't avoid them forever. Instead of just running Riverside we changed it up a bit and ran up 41st to Peoria and ran through Brookside to Philbrook and then through some neighborhoods back to Riverside to finish up. At one point we're taking our half out of the middle of some neighborhood road and I say "do you know where we are?". Sandy calmy says "nope". I'm thinking to myself 'I am running 5 miles today and not a foot more, so we better figure it out!' - grumpy cat, again.

By mile 3 I am astounded at the fact that 3 miles have passed and I didn't even realize it. We're back on the trail on Riverside at this point and there are lots of people around. This guy is approaching us and I say in the most perky voice I can muster "Good Morning!". Sandy looks at me like I've lost my mind and I think 'what the hell is happening to me?'.........bring back grumpy cat! I guess some of her goodness is rubbing off on me. I'm a glass half empty absolute realist, like it or not. If you are annoying me, I will tell you. I think people should know when they're doing something wrong, otherwise how will they know that they need to fix it.......it's a public service really.

We had to run past our cars at 41st and Riverside to complete our 5 miles, which is a total mental bummer. We had less than a half mile to go, but there's just something about running by your car knowing you can't just jump in and take off and be DONE that really sucks. We had to run by the frisbee golf area and just as we were about to turn around, I got whacked on the shoulder by a disc. Never saw it coming and it hurt! Apparently 'fore' is not something that frisbee golfers have in their vocab bank. And the jerks didn't even apologize. I know he didn't hit me on purpose; clearly if he had the skillset to do so he would've placed the frisbee where it belonged............in the damn hole and not on my person! I'm just glad it didn't hit me in the face. It left a pretty good burn mark on my shoulder so I can only imagine what it would have done to my forehead. That would be a fun one to explain all week at the office!

In closing, I am grumpy, running sucks until you finish (then it's amaze-balls), and frisbee golfers with no manners can suck it!

MIND OVER MATTER

The effortless run, if there is such an animal

I find it funny that on days when I'm excited to get my run in, I feel terrible during my run more often than not. Then there are days like today, where it was a struggle to put on my shoes and get out the door, but once I was half a mile in, it felt effortless. These are my absolute favorite runs! That kind where out of nowhere you're 2.8 miles in and sort of bummed that you're only slated for 3 miles total.........

I will be cursing myself for that statement come Sunday when I have to log 5 miles for this week's long run. It always seems like I struggle through every. single. mile. during my long runs.

I'm pretty sure the weather had something to do with my euphoria today. Lord knows that running did not become effortless for this fat girl overnight, that ish takes time and a lot of hard work! So not only do SNAKES make you run faster, so to does a 22 degree drop in temperature! Apparently a 22 degree temperature swing directly correlates to an increase in velocity of 48 seconds/mile (carry the one and ignore the coefficient of friction).

Stats:  3 miles / 38:27 / 12'48" per mile average

Random thoughts during tonight's run:

• "There sure is a lot of traffic tonight"
• "Its getting dark earlier and its kinda creepy"
• "Was that a spider or a small leaf?"
• "Does this church have services EVERY Tuesday and Thursday or are they leasing their parking lot for neighborhood overflow parking?"
• "Love this Katie Perry song and I really don't care who hears me, I'm gonna sing"

If you were disturbed by a crazed runner plodding down the sidewalk along 51st street with a set of crazy eyes on the lookout for SNAKES singing 'Dark Horse' rather loudly, my sincerest apologies.

MIND OVER MATTER

It's fine. I ran today.

So all I really managed to do on my run tonight was finish. That is all and nothing more. And that's okay. 

• My breathing was super heavy (had pain in my ribs in fact).
• My legs were like giant cylinders filled with lead (I was rocking out to Metallica on the headphones thinking to myself "I have heavy metal legs").
• It was muggy and the air was THICK (curse you mother nature, bring back the cold front).
• My feet are dumb and decided to slide around in my shoes, which wasn't real pleasant (yes I have "new" shoes with only 49.9 miles on them, they're just babies for crying out loud).

Bottom line, this was one of those runs that made me question why I do this to myself. As I'm plodding along at a snail's pace with lead legs, I'm thinking "13.1 miles, really?". But I've done it before, and I know I can do it again. Runs like this happen. They're not fun, they're painful at times, but 3 miles is 3 miles. And I was pleasantly surprised with my pace (13'36"/mile). In the heat of the moment when you feel like you'll die if you take another step, it feels like you are the slowest person on the planet. Then the Nike app tells you that you are dead wrong after the run is over by showing you that you weren't in fact plodding along at an abysmal pace after all. Nike app is like "way to go, you did it, great job, blah blah blah".

I took two things away from this run.

1. A 12 minute mile and a 6 minute mile are the same distance, doesn't matter how fast you get it done, it only matters that you get your mileage in and follow the training program. It never gets easier, you just get stronger step by step, mile by mile.
2. I need to start running earlier in the day. Taking off at 7:30 pm isn't going to cut it anymore as the sun is going down earlier now and I have a newfound fear of snakes lurking in the dark waiting to jump out at me on the sidewalk when I least expect it.

Bottom line; I finished! I set out to run 3 miles tonight, and as much as it sucked, I completed what I set out to do!!! Trust me, I wanted to quit at several points during tonight's run, but I didn't, and that's all that counts (yes, that helps me sleep better at night).

In the end it's all good:

Here's hoping for better runs this week!

MIND OVER MATTER

Radar, blue skies, and bathrooms

This weekend was the first "long run" of my training program. Anything over a 5k distance I consider to be a long run, anything less is just a run. I was scheduled for 4 miles yesterday. I was planning to go run with a group that a friend invited me to join (thank you for the invite Annie). I was pretty pumped about this until I found out that this group meets at 6:00 in the morning. This cranky fat girl does NOT like 6:00 in the morning, but I resigned myself to the fact that sometimes you have to do hard things in life and just suck it up! So I set my alarm for 4:45 and went to bed way too late as usual. When the alarm went off I heard rain outside, looked at the radar, and saw THIS:

Ummm, no thank you! The beauty of having your long run scheduled for Saturday morning is you can always run on Sunday instead if the weather isn't to your liking or your schedule gets in the way.

I was joined this morning on Riverside by a friend (thank you Sandy) and the miles went by quickly. We hadn't quite made it to mile 3 and I was in bad shape. Let's just say nature was calling and I was hurting! There's a first time for everything I suppose. There was a bathroom on the trail, which I was thankful for, until I actually walked in. No freakin' doors on the stalls. Mmmmmmkay, guess I'm going to shut the main door, go to the back stall and hope for the best. Worst case scenario is someone walks in and I have to yell "occupado"! No one walked in, but I noticed too late that there was no toilet paper (just lovely). Still better than ducking into the bushes I suppose..........I'm sure my day is coming in that regard.

Bathroom issues aside, I had a great run this morning. I was greeted at 7:30 in the morning by this view on the trail:

Blue skies and 62 degrees. MUCH BETTER!!!

Run Stats:  4 miles, 51:02, 12'49" / mile average

The last 4 mile run I did was during training last year for the Route 66 Half Marathon. It was November 6th, 2013 and I ran 4 miles in 56:41 and averaged 14'16" per mile. Looks like I've improved and gotten stronger. That's really all you can ask for and I'm a happy girl at the moment!

This upcoming week is slated for 3 miles each on Tuesday and Thursday and 5 miles on Saturday. Although we all know that if I wake up Saturday morning and it's raining, I'm pushing that 5 miles until Sunday.........because I can.

MIND OVER MATTER

 

S is for SNAKE

You know what makes you run really fast?

--Good running shoes?  NO
--Proper cross-training?  NO
--Proper nutrition and hydration?  NO

SNAKES?!?!  YES!!!

I guarantee you it doesn't matter if you're 2.8 miles into a 3 mile run and you're dog tired and don't think you can take another step; the minute a snake slithers across the sidewalk two feet in front if you, you become an Olympic sprinter instantly. If you're me, you even scream at the snake as loud as humanly possible and jump into the road. Apparently oncoming traffic doesn't look so bad when compared to a humassive ginormous snake (it really wasn't that big, but still)!

Too bad I didn't see that damn thing earlier, because I was sllloooooooowww tonight and could've used that extra push of adrenaline around mile 1. There are always positives though! Even though my average for the 3.1 miles was slower than I've been lately, at least I completed the mileage I set out to complete (that's just something ugly people say). 

Seriously though, it's hard to stomach a 13'50" average after running so well in my last 5k. I realize that training run average pace and race average pace are different, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating.

In closing, if you can swing it, I highly recommend having a friend volunteer to randomly throw snakes in your path the next time you're struggling with a run. It worked for me and I'm sure it will work for you!

MIND OVER MATTER

The road is my castle

Tonight's run was 3 miles of pure spectacularity (yes, that is a word, Google it)!

While out and about on the road, I realized that the road is my castle and I am the QUEEN. I own the road, it doesn't own me. The road is not judgemental, it doesn't care what my hair looks like, and it doesn't care how skinny I'm not. Most importantly, the road does not make crazy demands or ring incessantly like my office phone. It does not think I should speed up or slow down, it does not criticize my pace. I am free to do as I please; I am in control, no one else.

THAT is what I love about running! No deadlines, no responsibilities, no stress, no judgement, just me competing with me..........

There were no records broken today (3 miles @ 13'02" per mile), but I enjoyed it, and that's worth something to me!

Shout out to my sister for hash tagging my previous blog post on Facebook with "my sister is better than your sister" :)

She's right folks. Holla

MIND OVER MATTER