A PR!

Nothing is more exciting than being concerned about your performance, then finding out you did great. I was very scared going into my 5k yesterday. I had not run 3 miles non stop since the beginning of August. My personal goal was to come in 42 minutes or sooner. Well, I came in at 40:38! Which is not only under my 42 minute goal, but 10 seconds faster than my previous 5k best. My next race my goal is to be under 40. This running and shaving time off is a long road, but so worth it. Races really invigorate and motivate. I feel ready for my 1/2 marathon now!

Accountability

I've found that in running, and probably all sports, there must be a level of accountability. I enjoy running alone, but since I stopped running with my team I've decreased by running to almost nothing. Who am I joking? It is nothing. 2 miles 10 days ago...

On Monday I'm meeting up with my old running buddy! I'm so excited. I will get out of bed and out the door if I know she'll be sitting on my front porch stretching. I have 4 weeks until the marathon. Plenty of time to whip myself back into shape :O) I know part of my recent frumpiness is not running. I've been going to the trainer, but nothing else. My weight loss is at a stand still. I need to get my ass back on the running wagon. I felt so awesome and fit when I was running on a regular basis. I want that feeling back.

I had the air knocked out of me

One of the vendors I work with on a regular basis donated to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on my behalf. Once I received notification of his donation I immediately send him an e-mail thanking him for his support. He replied back with this:

This one is important around my house. My sister had a double mastectomy today. Good luck on your run.

I totally had the wind knocked out of me. I had no clue(why would I?), but it was not the response I expected to receive. It almost instantly made me cry. It made LLS that much more real to me and made my wallowing in self pity over a sore foot so insignificant.

Ground Zero

I'm starting over. Instead of trying to run were I was (5-8 miles). I'm going to just start over. I made myself a new training schedule for the 1/2 marathon. 6 weeks to 13 miles. Totally do-able. I'm hoping that once I start slow it will come back a little quicker that way. We'll see. I'm at an odd place with my running. I WANT to run when I'm at a place and time I can't (work, wal-mart, ect.) but when I get home and I can actually run, I'm to lazy to do it. I think I would feel better if I ran, my blahness would go away, but the blahness make me not want to run. It's an evil, vicious cycle.

In happier news, I have a new running buddy! Jason! He is going to do the 1/2 marathon with me! So excited about that. He hasn't ran with any sort of consistently in 9, almost 10 years. So we will be start from ground zero together. He's always been my biggest supporter and I'm super excited about finishing the race with him by my side. 13.1 miles of love! It should be a fun morning!

I did it....

I changed events. I changed from the full marathon, to the half marathon. It's been an internal battle for a couple of days now. I really want to do the marathon, I want to be able to say I did a marathon. However, if I don't finish it won't matter. If my training had stayed solid I would have no problem completing the marathon. That foot thing really messed me up and pissed me off. I feel so far behind. I feel like everything I accomplished from January to July is gone. I had built up such a good foundation. Now it's gone, and I'm gonna do a half marathon, instead of a full.

I know that it's still 13 miles and that's great, but it's not what I've been planning for and training for. I'm pretty bummed. I really thought about doing the marathon anyway, but I really want my first marathon to be this great adventure, this neat experience that I'll always remember. Not an event that I barely live through! Even with my decreased running ability, I feel comfortable taking on a 1/2. Besides it gives me a reason to buy the shirt that says:

I do 1/2 marathons because good girls don't go all the way!

Marathon training is hard.

Not that I think anyone ever thought it was easy, but it's really hard. The amount of running makes it really easy to get burnt out. I've been working out and going to the trainer, but I've been slacking in the running department. I'm just tired of it. It's not fun anymore. Between that feeling and not actually running any sort of real distance in awhile, my conditioning is suffering. Top that with not enough water and I'm 50 shades of sucking. I was supposed to have a 15 mile run this weekend, I couldn't make myself do it. I had ZERO desire. I finally made myself go for a short run. I intended it to be a 3 miles run, I only did about 1.25, MAYBE 1.5! I had to force myself to get that far. So I walked 1.5-2.0 miles. Same thing this morning. I did my 1 miles then walked 2 and finished with a 1/2 mile run. I am better than this. 3 miles is a short run for me. I can do 6-9 non-stop. What's going on with this mental block?? It's not my body, it's my mind. It's a complete and total mental block. I'm going back out tonight. My goal is to run 2 miles non-stop, which "should" be cake. We'll see if I can push through that brick wall at 1 mile....

Oh the running....

Like anything else in life it ebbs and flows. I'm still nursing this sore foot. I really wish it would go away. A coupe weeks ago, after much thought, prayer, and even a few tears I decided that I'm not going to do the Nike Woman's Marathon. Don't gasp yet. I'm still doing a marathon. I'm just going to do it in my hometown instead of in California. I was very torn about this, but ultimately decided this is the best decision for me. I felt such a release of pressure and stress after I made my decision, I knew I made the right one. I also contemplated changing my event for the marathon(26.2 miles) to the half marathon(13.1 miles). However after much more thought, I decided to stick with my 26.2. After my foot injury I was, and still am feeling overwhelmed by the full marathon. However, I have committed to this and I'm not going to let myself down. I may be rolling in Monday morning(it starts on Sunday!), but I'm doing it and I'm finishing it.

I'm still undecided on how I'm going to run it yet though. I will either do a run 6 mile/walk 1 mile interval or a run 4 minutes/ walk 1 minute interval. I'm leaning toward the 6/1, I'm going to run at least 20 of the 26 miles. That's my goal. I don't care if it takes me 7 hours or more....