clocking some hours!

The last three weeks, we have started to increase our mileage, and it only gets more intense from here on out.  Our first real long run was 12 miles, then we did 12 again, and then this last weekend we did 14.  This is the farthest that any of us on my running team have ever run so it was a great milestone to share.  And what's even more encouraging is that we ran the 14 miles in a faster time than I have run all three of my half marathons!  I think this means I am improving...........  and isn't that real runners do?  Improve.

Here are a few images of my watch after each of the runs.  I look forward to adding more images as the time and mileage continue to increase!

                                                                         12 miler

                                         12 miler (and we improved our time from last week!)

                 14 miler (however, I forgot to stop my watch for a 5 minute bathroom break!)

I Peeked at the Schedule

Up until now, I haven't been looking ahead at the schedule.  I have been doing a good job of just working on one run at a time while only looking at the schedule one week at a time.  This way I won't get too overwhelmed.  Too discouraged.  Too scared.

Well....  I was feeling curious and wanted to know just how fast our mileage increased.

 So........  I peeked.

I slowly unfolded my schedule to see next week's long run - 12.  Not too bad, I thought.

I unfolded another line - 14.  Okay, I can do that.

I started to feel a little confident so I just unfolded the whole thing at once.

Not good.

Our mileage goes from 14 to 15 to 18 to 22.

Holy Freaking Moly!

That looks like a schedule for someone who is training for a marathon!

Oh yeah,  I *am* training for a marathon.

Reality set in.

I am overwhelmed.

I am discouraged.

And mostly,  I am scared.

I knew there was a reason I wasn't looking ahead!

Preparing for a Run

I am not a morning person.  I never have been, and I'm afraid that this late in the game, I never will be.  Needless to say, these 7:00 am Saturday morning runs have been very brutal for me because it requires that I am up at 6:00 or 6:15 in the morning.  I don't even get up that early during the week!  In order to make my morning a little easier, I have to set out all my stuff the evening before so it is readily accessible for me to put on, grab, and go.....

My list of items looks something like this:
Shoes
Socks
Running pants
Sports bra
Silk long john top
Long sleeve running shirt
Running jacket
Hat
Ear warmers
Gloves
Ipod shuffle
Cell phone
Hammer Gel
Water bottle #1 - water
Water bottle #2 - heed (electrolyte drink)
Water bottle #3 - recoverite drink

And here it all is, waiting for me in the morning!

Non Runner Making Runner Choices

One of the things I love about running is that you can do it anywhere.

All you need is shoes and dedication.

An interesting thing about my "non runner" self is that I always take my shoes with me when I go out of town.  I have intentions of running.....  but its the dedication factor that causes problems.  Its that non runner part of me that leaves the shoes in my suitcase and doesn't make it happen.

A real runner makes better choices.  A real runner makes it happen.  A real runner takes their shoes out of their suitcase!

I just got back from Texas, and it was a trip that fell over the weekend which meant I had to miss another Saturday run with my running buddies.  The good news is that I was in Texas with another runner friend of mine who is training for a 1/2 marathon so we kicked in the dedication, pulled our shoes out of our suitcases, and made it happen!  (Thanks, Mary!)

It's such a good feeling to be dedicated.

It's such a good feeling to make "runner" choices.

And it was especially good feeling to drag those shoes out of the suitcase!

Penance

penance: a punishment undergone in token of penitence for sin 

my sin - missing my morning team run due to staying up too late and drinking to much

my penance - running 8 miles ALONE the following day  

I missed my first Saturday morning run this week because I stayed out to late on Friday and had a bit too much to drink.  In my defense, I was staying out late and drinking too much for a good cause!  I attended the annual "A Taste of Hope" charity fundraiser for my favorite non-profit organization, The ISAAC foundation.   This is an event I look forward to every year, and it's one that I volunteer for months leading up to the event.  I had intentions of getting up and running, and I even told people at the event that I was taking it easy because I had to run in the morning.  Well.... when morning rolled around, I just couldn't get myself out of bed.  

I admit it....  I didn't really try that hard.  (I did set my clock, but I think I mostly set it so I could text my team that I wasn't coming, and then I promptly went back to sleep). 

Pathetic, I know.  

I did pay for it though.  

Running 8 miles alone was penance for sure.  

dedication

9:55 pm   +   running on the treadmill  =   dedication

                            

"Mommy on the Treadmill"

"Mommy on the Treadmill" 

Dylan,  age 3 1/2 

Feb 7, 2011 

Early Morning Run

I am not a morning person.  I never have been, and I'm afraid I never will be.  However, with this marathon training, my training buddies and I have chosen Saturday mornings at 7:00 to be our weekly long run time. There is nothing right about getting up at 6:00 am on a Saturday, but I am learning to do so.  I have always wanted to be that mom who gets up before the rest of the house comes to life, sneaks out to get in a morning run, and returns just in time for a solitary cup of chai tea before the morning chaos begins.

However.......... I am not that mom.

Instead, my idea of a morning run would begin about 9:30 or 10:00 after I have had a chance to wake up, eat breakfast, check my email, send the girls off to school, dink around the house for a bit,  check my email again, dink around the house some more, and then head out once the mood strikes.  The problem with this line of thinking though is that the "mood" doesn't always strike, and then I spend the rest of the day trying to talk myself into an afternoon run or an early evening run, meanwhile, the day just keeps slipping away from me and a run may not end up happening at all.  Thank goodness for my running buddies though because now on these early morning runs, I just have to get up and go.  I don't have time to wake up.  I don't have time to check my email.  I don't have time to dink around the house.  And I definitely don't have time for the "mood" to strike.

But, guess what..... it always does.

And when we arrived this morning at the trail and I saw the beautiful sunrise, I thought to myself, "this morning stuff isn't all that bad".  So who knows, I might just get hooked on this morning run thing and try it all by myself one of these days!  That's what a real runner would do!

Week Two - DONE!

2 weeks down, 14 to go! 

Do you notice that my Thursday run this week is only half colored in?  Well, that is because I only completed half of a run.  I came home from work at 6:15 and jumped on the treadmill to knock my little 3 miler out.  I was feeling so good.  So dedicated!  So committed! I don't normally like to run after a long day at work, but that was really the only time I could fit it in, and because I am too scared to miss a run,  I made myself just do it!  I'm really working on this dedication thing, and I'm really trying to change my ways so it took a little self talk, but I managed to pull it together and was making it happen.....  

But then, about a mile 1/2 into the run, my little one comes racing into my room shouting, "Alicia's here, Mommy.  Alicia's here, Mommy!"  

Alicia is our babysitter.  So that could mean only one thing - we had ask her to come over to babysit.  Hmmm.  I don't recall making that phone call or sending that text.  And apparently neither did my husband because he answered the door and was dumbfounded.  He had no idea why our babysitter was standing there! (and just for the record, he was the one who had made the arrangements!)

Having a babysitter come over in the middle of the week on a school night probably meant we were going on a date.  And because we don't normally go out during the week, it probably meant we were going on a BIG date!  I was trying to process all of that and fill in the blanks, and then it hit me....   

SARAH MCLACHAN CONCERT!!  

How in the world could we have possibly forgotten? I immediately slammed off the treadmill, yanked out my earbuds, said a few choice words, and started stripping off my clothes.  We had less than thirty minutes to get there.  Somehow, we miraculously made it.  I was feeling kind of guilty that I had to stop in the middle of my run, but as soon as she came out on stage, the guilt went away!  

And on a completely different note.....  week two is done...... minus that mile 1/2, of course!  : ) 

Words of Wisdom

I read this quote in my Runner's World magazine last night and thought it was worth reading over and over again, especially as I am just getting started with my training....

"When it comes time to go after a goal, starting the belief system early will create the mental road map the body can follow leading up to the event."
                                                                     --  Terrance Mahon, coach of Olympians Deena Kastor & Anna Pierce

One Run at a Time

When I look at the training schedule, I am overwhelmed.  It is daunting to see how many weeks of training there are, how many miles will be logged, how many hours will be consumed, how many muscles will ache, etc  I seriously get a pit in my stomach when I try to process what the next 16 weeks of my life will look like. I start to doubt my decision to even attempt this thing.  I play mind games and beat myself up about it.  I go into negative self-talk mode......  and it's all because I'm staring at a little piece of paper that has a few weeks worth of runs written on it.  Crazy, I know.

I can't allow that to happen, and I won't allow that to happen. I want this thing!  I want 16 weeks of training like I've never trained before. I want those hours and hours of transforming my mind, body, and spirit. I even want the muscle aches and pains. And furthermore, I want the badges of honor - the race medal hanging around my neck and that cute little oval shaped bumper sticker with a 26.2 on it!

So, my plan of attack ~  I'm taking one run at a time.  Literally.  I folded up my training schedule so I can only see one week at a time, and after each run, I highlight the run once it's complete.  So on Monday, I had one square highlighted, on Wednesday, I had two squares highlighted, on Thursday, I had three squares highlighted, and as of today, I actually have FOUR  squares highlighted and guess what?

I don't feel quite as overwhelmed.

Bring on week two..... 

My First Run

Today I persevered!  My first official training run was just a little 3 miler, but the bad news was I had to do it on the dreadmill!  I absolutely detest running on those things, but that was really my only option since I didn't have childcare, and I wasn't motivated enough to go to the gym.  So, anyway, I hook my daughter up to a movie on the desktop computer in the other room while I hook myself up the laptop with a past TV episode of "House" (that I am trying to get caught up on), and I jump on board.

As soon as I started the machine, my daughter ran in to see what the commotion was.  She was scared of the noise, and couldn't here her movie.  So.... I jumped off the machine and went to turn her movie up a little.

I get back on.

I run for a couple of minutes and my dog starts barking very loudly.  I thought it was probably just a package being delivered, but I jumped off the machine to make sure my daughter wasn't in danger or something unexpected like that.  Yep, a fed ex man was walking away from the porch.

I go back.

I start the machine up again and I run for about 5 consecutive minutes, and then I realize that the heater is cranked up and I am sweating to death.  I could have kept going but I jump off to get some water and turn the heat down.  I don't want my first official marathon training run to be too miserable, you know!

I bring back a water bottle and start pounding away.

A few minutes pass and a big honkin' spider comes crawling out of one of the slider control slots on the top of the machine.  I get slightly creeped out because the treadmill has been in the garage for a year, and I was envisioning one spider after another after another crawling out of it's cool, dark home to relocate to a new cooler and darker home now that I had taken over theirs.  Thankfully, nothing of the sorts happened so I smashed the one spider with the bottom of my water bottle.  At this point, I'm so glad I had in fact interrupted my run to retrieve a water bottle because not only did I get cooled off, I was able to use it as a weapon.

I am getting into a groove at this point and the mileage and minutes are accumulating.

I think I am surely home free.  However, that's not the case. My daughter comes running back in to tell me her show is over and she wants another one.  I try to redirect her, but she insisted that it happen "RIGHT NOW" in her sweet, little, demanding-three-year-old way.  I really didn't want to finish my run with a tantruming three year old at my side so, I hopped off one last time to appease her - I figure I can't possibly get anymore interruptions or make these three miles stretch out any longer than they already are.

And I didn't.  I completed my three miler in just under 40 minutes!!  That's perseverance!  (not really my idea of perseverance, but it is what it is, nonetheless!)

Windermere Marathon 2011

You Tube Video of the Windermere Marathon

Training Schedule

Happy Birthday to Me!

The idea of *really* registering for the marathon has been rolling around in my head for a few weeks now. I keep telling myself that if I didn't register and mentally commit to the race that I'd be so mad at myself, and I knew that to be true.  I ended up missing the early registration because I just couldn't bring myself to push the 'register now' button.  I'm a gal that likes there to be meaning in things.  I like to make memories and establish traditions.  I like things to be significant and symbolic. So when the thought crossed my mine to save registration until by birthday, I jumped on the idea and waited for my birthday to cross the calendar. 

This is a pretty significant birthday ~ the big 4-0 so what better way to ring it in than to sign up for marathon and give myself a gift of self transformation.  (At least that's what I'm hoping will be part of the outcome of my training). Anyway, more on that topic later. 

Happy 40th to me! 

Wannabe Runner

Yep, you read that title right ~ I'm a wannabe runner.  I've been running the last 3 1/2 years and I've completed quite a few races (half marathons and relay races included), but I just don't consider myself a runner.

I run....... but I'm not a runner.

There's a difference.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately, and it comes down to what my perception of a "runner" is compared to what my perception of myself is.  When I think of a runner, I think:  dedication. commitment. power. perseverance. pain. gain. physique. lifestyle. devotion. etc.   And when I think of myself, I don't think of those things -- not as a whole package anyway.  Sure, I have perseverance when I'm at mile 9 of a half marathon with 4.1 miles to go and I'm hitting a wall, and sure I am dedicated once I register for a race; but as far as putting all these traits together and living by them day to day, that's not where I'm at, but that's where I want to be.

The truth of the matter is, I have been skating along these last few races.  My goal has simply been to finish.  I don't really train to get better, faster, or stronger.  I think the races have become social outings for me, and when I'm training with my moms in motion team, I get to get out of the house once or twice a week to run with friends.  That in in of itself is the motivation behind registering for races.  I haven't really been concerned with becoming a better runner with each race.  It all hit me this last year after I ran the Leavenworth 1/2 marathon.  I actually PR'd on that race by about 12 or 13 minutes and even though I walked in a couple of places.  I wasn't adequately prepared for the race because I hadn't adequately trained, and yet I still managed to shave almost a minute per mile off my time.  What kind of PR would I have had had I taken my training more seriously? I think a real runner would have PR'd quite a bit more.  A real runner would have put in the work.  A real runner would have been more dedicated and would have gained more power to persevere through the pain.  A real runner would have gained.  A real runner is devoted to the lifestyle of it all, and that's the difference between someone like myself who merely runs and someone who is a runner.