I am torn between being super excited and freaking out. It happens before every big race, that feeling of “oh what have I taken on?”. But I can’t wait! Due to the previously mentioned dream, I may be setting 6 alarms but I am still excited!
Judging from what I have been reading on everyone’s blogs, I am not the only one with a big race this Sunday! So it looks like October 13 is a good day to race. Good luck to everyone who is running! Bring it on! 🙂
Tuesday was volleyball night and we won! Ok, only one match, but that is better than none! I still haven’t picked up new volleyball shoes but I managed to get last season’s shoes workable. They had been turned in gardening shoes, oops! So a little water to rinse them off and a borrowed pocket knife and I had some traction; no more slipping and sliding all over the floor. We won our first match in 2 games and had a little down time before the second. The thing that frustrates me about the team is that when we lose, we aren’t being beaten. We are making unforced errors that cost us too many points. We have the skill but we just can’t seem to close. Guess that provides the justification for our team name of “Aimless”.
Today, I thought I was going to have to drop my 2nd work school course but a last minute change yesterday meant school was back on. I do not understand why it takes me 30 minutes to go 17 miles. From one town to another and 10 of those miles are highway! And I do not drive slowly. Class ran late but that was ok as I like to space out my runs during race week. 2 days between each run, so, I ran Monday and I will get in some miles tomorrow, then race day on Sunday!!!! 🙂
I may try to do an easy 2 either on the treadmill or at the track on Saturday, but not likely. I plan to drive down and pick up my race packet and shirt and do a bit of shopping that day. I would rather spend the gas money and go down twice than have to stress about picking the packet up on race day. Plus I am kind of OCD and I like to get all my gear together the night before. This way I don’t have to think about it race morning. I can worry about other things.
Like how crappy race photos turn out! The race photographer sent an email tonight saying there will be 7 photographers on the course along with 2-3 people filming. Great, more cranky looking pictures. Like this one from the 10K I just ran-
Come on, really?
And seriously what kind of lens does he use? Everyone looks very stout, even the tallest skinniest of people. Oh and the course? It was flat, like pancake flat-
Where did those slopes come from? (Photos by Brian P Lawler)
So here’s to hoping this next photographer uses different filters and I get one I may actually want to pay for.
Hope everyone made it through Wednesday and is having a good week!!
Don’t go to physical therapy with a good hair day, it won’t survive.
My posture sucks.
The cute new running shirt I just bought, yeah it sucks too. I bought it to be a shirt, not ride up into a sports bra.
I’m a bad friend who has still not made it to see my friends new house.
After toughing it out on Saturday, I was hoping that some decent sleep would help me feel better on Sunday. I was aiming to get in 6 easy miles. Yeah, um no. My headache had traded up from the minor leagues to a migraine. 😦 I was not up to running; I wasn’t up for much of anything at all. Normally migraines make me super nauseous and I don’t want to eat anything. I swear this one gave me the freaking munchies. I was so hungry all day. I managed to go to lunch with my mom and a friend but I hardly talked. All I did was inhale pizza. How social of me. After that I just went home and crashed.
Or pizza…
Today, I started physical therapy for my neck. Apparently I use the wrong muscles and everything I do aggravates it. Except running, running makes my neck feel ok. 🙂 That is the only time I have good posture, but then I worked hard on that. I pay attention to my posture when I run and correct it when I start to slump. Shoulders not invited to that party 🙂 The other 95% of the time, not so much. So I let the doctor poke and prod and push and pull, I almost jumped of the table and smacked her at point, it hurt- a lot. Yeah, so maybe I should have gone in sooner. I tend to procrastinate doctor’s appointments. So now I have some new stretches to learn as well change how I sit at work as well as drive. No fun.
My head wasn’t happy today but it was nowhere near yesterday’s level, so yeah for small things! Work was actually pretty good, we are finally operating with a full staff again, woo hoo! I decided to run a few laps around the lake after work. I figured if my head started to hurt, the car would be fairly close.
It started out a little awkward. Nothing really hurt, I just felt like I was running weird. Then again, my lower back was sore was trying to adjust the way I sit all day. That may have been the reason for hinky-ness. It took about 1.5 miles before I felt settled down, and the next 2 miles flowed pretty well. I ended up averaging a 10:18 pace for the run and after the last week, I will take it. So even though I had to keep pulling down my shirt, I will call it a good run. Hopefully, I can get in a another good one in the next couple of days, maybe 4-5 miles. I have 6 days to go until my half marathon! Eek!!!!!
That about sums it up 🙂
Last night, I dreamed that it was already Sunday and that I overslept. I dreamed that I woke up at 6:40 and freaked out. The race starts at 7:00 AM and is 35 minutes away. I about had a panic attack. I lurched to my phone, half asleep just to check the clock. Only 4:42, whew. Then I realized it was Monday, I still had days to go. Crazy!
So this week I have volleyball and school and hopefully one last good run in. And fingers crossed, I will get to my friends new house!
Sleep has not been my friend these past few days. After Wednesday’s rest day, I had planned to do 4 miles in between work and class on Thursday. I was still exhausted when I woke that morning. We have also had 2 people out sick during the week and numerous sick customers. Not cool. Half way through the day I had a sore throat and a headache. No!
I didn’t feel sick but I didn’t feel well either. I thought long and hard on whether I should run or not. I am so afraid of getting sick right now. I have just over 7 days until City to the Sea. I ran my second half marathon 2 weeks after having the stomach flu. That was hell. I cried at mile 10. I don’t mean little sniffles; I mean balled my eyes out. I was so done. 😦 I am not doing that again, so I chose to rest and not run. My running bag and shoes were on the floor of my passenger seat. I felt like they were judging me on my drive to school. 😦
Friday was more of the same, with an added bonus of waking up at 4AM with a gnarly Charlie horse. Ouch! On top of that work was crazy busy. I spent the day popping Vitamin C and trying to firmly believe in mind over matter. All this led to another rest day. But I had done 3 off in a row before, I would be ok right?
Apparently I can’t count. Checked my nike app this morning and it showed zero miles for October. That hurt. Then I noticed the date, October 5. Wait, what? But I had only had 3 rest days. Then it dawned on me that volleyball on Tuesday may have not been a rest day but it didn’t add any miles either. I hadn’t run in 4 days. Well crap.
What the hell happened?
My head still ached but I had to get in a few miles. After getting my errands done, laundry done, car cleaned and helping my parents schlep some concrete, I was going to rest for a bit and then head to the gym for some very easy treadmill miles. Yeah, that rest turned into me falling asleep on the floor. Oops. When I woke up I had lost my enthusiasm for the gym. But I changed my clothes, put on my running shoes and headed out the door.
I didn’t go to the gym but instead just ran / walked around my neighborhood. Downside to that is there are a lot of hills. Those were some hard four miles. I was tired and sluggish and just wanted to be done.
Walking counts as moving forward right?
But they were run. I actually felt ok after the run. My headache had briefly gone away. It eventually came back but here’s hoping some sleep and a nice relaxing Sunday helps it go away. Maybe with some more easy miles thrown in.
Monday’s run was short. And Slow and short. I had originally hoped to run an easy 3 around the lake. I knew that I would be tired after Sunday’s race craziness so I was aiming low. You know that feeling your legs get when you first start running after a long run? That stiff, heavy feeling? Not painful but enough to make your stride feel off. Yep, it went like that. I made it for 2 laps before calling it. 2.3 is better than none, even if I was crawling. This run was just supposed to get me moving again. I ran the 2 loops, stretched out and headed home. I was tired and my comfy chair was calling.
I missed volleyball practice last week and I thought it was determined that we were taking a season off. I was ok with that because things are busy right now and an extra night sounded like a good idea. Friday rolled around and suddenly we were in league again. Uh, what, why? I didn’t want to be the kill joy so I sucked it up and last night we had our first games.
There are only 4 teams this season and I figured the games would be fun and relaxed. Yeah, not so much. Last night felt more like a grudge match. I am the type of player who goes after the ball no matter what. Not the best mentality two weeks before a half marathon. I bounced off the floor a few times, collided with a few other players, and even slid under the net once. M and I always go for the same ball and usually collide, we’re both ball hogs. 🙂 At one point, I landed hard on my knee, so much for knee pads. 😦 It was rough but it was fun!
To top it off, my former volleyball shoes were trashed and not wearable. I hadn’t had the chance to buy new ones so I wore an old pair of tennis shoes from years ago. Not a good idea. I was sliding across the floor so much I felt like Tom Cruise in Risky Business. I may as well been wearing socks. On the upside, I may have figured out a super lazy Halloween costume.
We didn’t win, but played hard. Way harder than I had planned. I was so tired this morning and my whole body felt bruised. Ugh. Then, work came around and 2 people are out sick. I sanitized everything as best as I could, but who knows. I cannot get sick right now!!! Work was so crazy, I was glad I had planned on today being a Slacker day.
After finally getting home, and calling in the big guns (aka my dad), I finally got the damn headboard I bought 3 weeks ago on the bed. I may be in my 30’s but my dad will always be a rockstar. It took 3 weeks, numerous trips to Lowes and multiple bed stores followed by some very colorful cursing tonight but here it is!!
Took long enough!
Now, on a confusing note. Everyone’s been posting about domain names, I purchased my domain name back before I started the blog but never linked the two together. Now that I want to, I can’t quite figure it out. So, help, please! Is it better to stay on WordPress and just link it (map) it back to the domain or is better to do everything through the hosting service that controls your domain name? Any thoughts?
Hope everyone is having a good week so far!! Now, I need sleep.
Race day!!!! However, I was so comfy this morning; I had a very hard time getting out of bed. I pushed it as far as possible before getting up and ready to go. I ended up choosing to go with my new capris and a green running tank. I have a problem eating food before a race but I got one Belvita cracker down, grabbed my Gatorade and candy corns and was out the door.
As I wandered down to the starting line, it was so cold. My arms and toes were so cold but I had nowhere to stow a jacket, so I made sure to stand on the sunny side of street. Waiting to line for the starting gun, I always have a sudden moment of panic. A dizzying array of thoughts that all lead back to “oh my god, why am I doing this, I’m gonna fall on my face”. There was a little delay with the starting gun, had to wait for the police escort to get back! Another thing I like about this race- a motorcycle cop leads the way for both the 10K and the 5K. He arrived and we were off!
I normally start out too fast and slow from there. This time I wanted to maintain pace as best as I could. I had a goal in mind but wasn’t sure if I could pull it off, but I was going to try. So I focused on my breathing, picked someone in front of me to pace-stalk and kept going.
Mile 2 I was feeling good, hit the turn-around at 2.2 miles and headed back to complete the first loop. Here I discovered a new running fear. I have always been afraid of being the last to finish a race and yes I know that last is better than never started. However at 2.5 miles, the leaders with the lovely pace officer were heading towards their mile 5. Umm, what? Was I going to get lapped before I had even completed the first lap? Yikes!
Sprinting to the finish!!! 10K
It didn’t happen, whew. I rounded the corner to finish lap 1 and the Grizzly Academy in uniform was standing in a line over half the block, cheering runners on. Good pick me up! Now, here’s a question, does a 5k PR count if it’s during a 10k? When I ran passed the clock, it said 27:44… hell yeah! But now I had to maintain it, and I really wanted to take a walking break. No! This was partially practice for my upcoming half, so I pushed on. By mile 4.5, the person I was pace-stalking graduated from a 1 block lead to a 2 block lead. I was actually maintaining pace, so they must have been one of those people talented enough to pull negative splits. Finally mile 6 and the finish line was just around the corner. Just keep running, just keep running, just keep running and done! 55:57. Only by 3 seconds but still 55 minutes!!!! Part of me wanted to do a little jig but I was tired! And I had another race in 15 minutes.
Steady!
Met up with my mom (photographer) and C and her husband at the finish line. I was running the 5K with them. Took some photos and had a quick shirt/ bib/ chip change. I also refueled with some Gatorade and a few candy corns. Yummy, carbs and sugar. Ok, time to line up again. I told C and her husband that I would probably tire quickly and drop back. The gun rang out and we were off!
Wardrobe change!
I was able to stay strong with them for the first 1.5 miles. Plus it was kind of nice having someone to talk to while running. The halfway point was a little rough, but I hung in there and we kept running. Around 2.2 again, I really wanted to walk but forced myself to pick it up a bit. Yeah that lasted for like a block. Just before the 3 mile mark, C’s husband starts telling us to pick it up; we could do it, just run! Seriously dude? But we did, rounded that last corner and finished at 30:22. C and I managed to finish at the exact same time, he finished a few seconds ahead. I’ll take it!!! Way better than I was aiming for. I told him thanks because without his prodding, I so would have walked at least part of that.
We didn’t plan to match,we’re just good like that, hehe
Then I realized, I had just run a 10K and a 5k without any walking! Where did that come from! We took some more pictures and waited for everyone we knew to cross the finish line. I also ran over to the race truck to check the official finishing times, have to see it to believe it you know.
Then C and I lined back up. We were running the half mile with a co-workers son. Yep, another race. I think I lost my mind. He was so cute and so excited, though, I was hoping he would go slow. Starting gun sounds and he was off like a bullet. Woah, C and I had to bolt to catch him. He held strong till about the 3rd block, and then he needed a walk. Oh, thank you. So we walked half a block and then ran the other half. Rounded the corner and he slowed. It was piggy back time! C carried him for a block, then he ran/ walked another 2. 2 blocks from the end, we rounded a corner at the park and there was a park bench. Perfect time to take a seat! We got him moving with another piggyback ride before he ran the final block and collected his super cool dog tag. All in all a success! And fun, too.
I was so done then, but M showed with Baby G. I stuck around a little longer.
Cutest running partner ever!
Eventually it occurred to me that I really needed food and a chair, so I headed out. I met my mom for lunch and re- fueled with some amazing pizza! Later in the afternoon, I indulged in some racing of another kind. We went to the movies and saw Rush. It was seriously good. Very loud and very intense, but very good. Don’t hold the popcorn in your lap; you may tip it when you cringe! Not my usual cup of tea but I wouldn’t mind seeing it again.
Amazing goodness
Tomorrow should be an easy 3, but we will see how it goes.
Hope everyone had an amazing weekend! Any one run a race or see any good movies?
Slacker Runner 