Tag: half marathon

In the home stretch…

The final countdown has begun!!!

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 2^nd 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-

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!!

Anyone else with OCD tendencies?

Little Lessons

Things I learned today-

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.

ilovetorun.org | RUNNING CAN BE GIVEN — 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!!!!!

Gotta love Pinterest — 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!

Hope everyone had a decent Monday!

Anyone else ever have any crazy race dreams?

Troubles with counting…

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.

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.

Not the best but moving forward — 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.

Anyone else having a rough start to the weekend?

Ugh, just ugh…

So the planned easy 6 for Saturday turned into 4 miles of hell. I put it off until late Saturday afternoon and I really did not want to go. But there was this little voice in my head nagging me into going. So I put on my shoes and headed out the door.

Mile 1 was slow and cranky; mile 2 was a little better. By mile 3, I was in trouble. Ever have a moment when your stomach just completely wigs out on you? Yeah, that happened. The last ½ of mile 3 and all 4 turned in a walk. I really needed to run but that was so not gonna happen. Ugh.

Today, I was just over it and decided not to run at all. So I went shopping instead. A little retail therapy never hurt’s right? Other than maybe your pocketbook. 🙂

I would like a new running belt so I decided to check out the options. I hit Dick’s, Sports Authority and The Running Warehouse… no luck. I currently have a Fuel belt, but it drives me bonkers. It bounces up and down while I run, no matter what I do. I have tried to wear with the bottles on the front, or with the bottles on the back, usually I end up wearing it with them on my side. I swear if I had any sewing skills and it wouldn’t hinder my movement, I would sew a leg strap to it, Tomb Raider style.

I have run my last 2 long runs and just carried a water bottle. I am debating if I just want to do that for my half marathon, but not sure. I need to figure it out though, I have less than 5 weeks to go. Eek!!

On the upshot, I did pick up some Nuun to try and I replaced the headband I lost around mile 11 of last half marathon.

I also found the best part of the season already for sale-

Yum!! Sugar and Carbs :) — Yum!! Sugar and Carbs 🙂

Yeah for race fuel!!!!! And yes, I really use candy corn for my half marathons.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!!!!!

Any belt ideas? Let me know 🙂

Bring on the tempo

After Sunday’s long run, I decided to take Monday off. Which turned out to be a good thing, my running partner canceled and I stayed late at work. Why are Mondays always so crazy? Tuesday was a little calmer and the weather was supposed to be good, so I took the scenic route home and ran from there.

I parked my car and set out with no real plan. I did remember to take water this time, woo hoo! After a little warm-up, I figured what the heck, let’s try for a tempo run. Now I realize that I am no expert and may never be super-fast, but I consider a tempo run to be comfortably hard. For me that would be a little slower than half marathon pace. Which is definitely faster than my easy runs or just average runs. Plus, when running a half marathon, you have that added adrenaline boost which helps with your pace. It’s a RACE after all!

After a short warm up, I ran for 5 miles. Nice way to start the week. I followed that lovely run up with yummy tacos at taco Tuesday 🙂 Maybe counterproductive but so tasty.

This morning I had a meeting to drive to. As I was driving down the freeway, I was checking out the half marathon route that I will be running in just over 7 weeks. I have run it before but it was a good refresher. I noticed that the first hill looks more like a gentle slope before it gets to the real hills. Can’t wait! On the downside, the meeting was held in a hotel conference room. It was sad walking across the parking lot seeing all the people in swim suits and shorts heading to the beach or pool. And me? I was in an uncomfortable pencil skirt and heels 😦 Not cool.

After the meeting I headed back to work to finish out the day. I headed to the park afterwards to get in a few miles. Today’s run was all about speed. I did 3 laps of the lake and I pushed; hard. I ended up shaving 3 seconds off of my most recent 5k PR. Not that I count it, I only count race PR’s. I figure that’s been measured by someone else and I don’t have to rely on my possibly glitchy GPS app. But still, I was excited!!! Maybe I felt like I had to live up to my shirt-

Felt like a smile, looks like a frown, oops!

Fast or Last? Because middle of the pack shirts just don’t seem to work as motivation starters!

I have a class tomorrow and Friday is my long day, so now for 2 days off. I have a race to look forward to on Saturday morning. I am excited, this race is supposed to be part hard pack sand, part road, part boardwalk and part soft sand. All that in just 3.1 miles? I have some friends running it as well, so it should be fun!!

Anyone have any big plans for the weekend?