On the Road Again

Today was my first run since the Freedom Run 10K last month. Which, while we're on the topic, I finished without dying, I wasn't last, and the sustained injuries only needed a couple of weeks to heal. I finished in an hour, nineteen minutes, and some change. Hardly a "good" time in the running world, but I finished - and 10 minutes faster than I'd even hoped. I ran my little heart out that last .2 mile - and have never been so happy to see a finish line in my entire life.

Unfortunately, around mile 5, I started to get pains that went up the outside of my ankles - tendons, I guess? Walking hurt, stairs were excruciating, and my one attempt at a run after the prescribed 6 day rest period was a flop.

A little more ice, a little more rest, and a good night's sleep inspired me to take advantage of my current surroundings (stuck in Raleigh for the weekend) and hit the trails this morning.

It didn't go nearly as well as I'd hoped. I finished about 2.25 miles, which was all I'd planned to do, but it was far slower and just not a pleasant experience generally. I am not a person who can just hop in where she left off, apparently.

The worst part is that I didn't really feel like a runner - I felt like this fat kid who was in running shoes and a running skirt and trying to trick everyone else on the trail into believe that she's a runner. And failing, miserably. Part of this is the general funk that two weeks of not running puts me in. Part of this is the slow but sure acknowledgment that I am just not a runner. I'm not built like a runner, I don't move like a runner (and there are plenty of race photos to prove this).

And overall, it's just frustrating. After all the months, miles, and yes - money - that I've put into this, I don't feel any better off than I did before I started. I know that this feeling will pass and maybe it's just a matter of a day or week and I'll feel again like I can run this half marathon in EIGHTY NINE DAYS. Yes, you read that correctly.

I am terrified by the knowledge that in just 89 days I'll be running 13.1 miles.

Or run-walking. Whatever.

The only that's keeping me going: "There will be days that I don't think I can run a half marathon. There will be a lifetime knowing I have."

no guts, no glory

First of all, results from Saturday's race - because I know my readers (all none of them?) are anxious to hear.

36:09.

THIRTY.
SIX.
OH.
NINE.

I nearly cried when I crossed the finish line. And then walked around with my banana and powerade with a stupidly goofy smile on my face. Not a bad way to start a birthday, I say.

The rest of the birthday was quite amazing too, thanks in no small part to a bunch of amazing girls who I love more than words could express.

--
At any rate, when I got back to Raleigh, I spoke with my best friend, who was telling me about the races she was looking at for the summer. She's never run one before, and thought it would be high time to start - and she's certainly going in headfirst. She's found races of all varying lengths over the next few months to help her prepare.

So began my search for a long race sometime before September 27, when I'm running a 10K in Charlotte. Unfortunately, active.com showed no long races (other than some marathons and half marathons) between now and my October 11 foray into the half-marathon world.

Except...next weekend. Two different 10Ks - one a little closer to home, another in Greensboro. I went out on a limb, made overconfident perhaps by my recent success in Lake Wylie. I'm registered for a 10K next. weekend. That's only ten days away! I am equal parts excited, scared, and driven.

So I went out for a 6 mile run today, just to prove to myself that I could do it without dying and that I'll do it without dying next weekend. I decided to try a lake trail at a park by my work. A few mishaps and falls and bloodied knees later, and I had completed 6.5 miles. Now, I'll admit I walked the last mile or so because my body just simply couldn't do it anymore. But I don't care. I did it. I didn't die, and I only fell twice. Maybe three times. :)

So here's the run down, because I'm just too tired to write any more tonight.

Days to Freedom Run 10K: 10
Days to Hartford ING Half Marathon: 113
Total Mileage: 6.5 (give or take a tenth of a mile)
Wildlife spotted: snapping turtle, deer, bird or two, and a rather rambunctious squirrel.
Wipeouts: Two - resulting in two skinned knees, a bloody elbow, and one heck of a bruise.

Quit yer bitchin'

A littler earlier than my usual posts - but an errant car alarm (my own) awoke me at 3 am, a nearly impossible time for me to go back to sleep.

It was a balmy 93 degrees yesterday at 5 pm, which seemed just perfect for a run. Well, not perfect, but d0-able. I went out armed with my PODRUNNER INTERVALS (yeah, that was a shout-out) and a bottle of water and hit the open road. Finished about 2.75 miles of the three-mile-route I had laid out. When the intervals switched to running again and the last .15 miles before turning back were uphill, I gave up. It was hot. Sue me.

The best part is - I finished that mileage in just over 30 minutes. Exciting, first of all, because 2.5 miles took me about 35+ minutes 2 weeks ago. But I was even more excited when I realized at a 5k is 3.1 miles - I was less than half a mile from that yesterday! In a time so much better than my PR! Of course, I can't say with any certainty that I'm any faster than I was a month ago until I get my time from this Saturday's race, but I feel so much better than I did after Tuesday's whine-whine-whine workout. I really need to get a stopwatch (I think Krista told me she had one for me) to time myself this Saturday - I'm generally so far back in the pack that guntime is off by 45 seconds or more.

This Saturday's race: Lake Wylie Splash Dash - 8 AM at Camp T-Bird
Time to Beat: 38:24 (official time from CPCC Skyline Run 4/26/08)

Lessons learned:
Hand washing laundry is a workout on its own - if you don't believe me, try it.
93 degrees is just about my cut off.
Everything seems so much simpler after a run.

Somebody remind me that I'm not a quitter, please.

It is currently 6:07 PM in Raleigh, the place I call "home" for the moment. It is 98 degrees. That is not a typo.

It is entirely too hot to run. I proved that after a failed attempt at 4 miles on Friday, where I only half ran the first mile and a half and had to stop 3 times on the way back because I was so faint.

I am exceptionally frustrated at the moment - all I want to do is run, but it would seem that doing so would be to tempt the fates in a most unintelligent manner. So I tae bo. And that's worse than running. Worse because I am horribly uncoordinated and I spend half the video yelling at Billy Blanks because I just can't do that and I run in place instead.

I'm also frustrated because I've been training for 3 weeks - and I'm seeing no results. I don't run any faster, further, or with any less pain than I did at the beginning of May. My clothes don't fit any better and I still feel, at times, like I am bursting out of my skin. This would be understandable if I ate like a fool or drank heavily on a daily basis or something - but I don't. I really do watch what I eat, drink with little frequency, and yet...

*Sigh* I tire sometimes of complaining, but in my defense, it's the first time in 3 weeks of training that I've really considered giving it all up.

Today:
Weight: 145 (still - which isn't all bad after a wedding and a weekend full of food)
X-Training: I don't think 20 minutes counts. Today's a bust.

Need to join a gym. Need to find the $70 I'll need to start up (after that, only $10/month!). Friday's payday. We'll see.

Billy Blanks, you hurt me so good....

128 days to Hartford.

Today's stats:
Weight: 145 (so obviously 148 was a bit off yesterday)
X-Training: Tae-Bo (Fat Burn Accelerator video)

Tae-Bo kicked my butt. Slaughtered it. Absolutely made me want to give up. But I didn't and I made it through the whole 50 minute video, even if I did have to jog in place a few times - because honestly, I'm just. not. that. coordinated.

It's getting hot outside. Dangerously hot. 80 oz of water is not an ultimate goal any more. That's a starting point - and if I plan on running, especially outside, I need to add another 20 or 3o oz. I've thought about joining a gym, just to be able to run inside. Krista told me to join her gym when I return to Charlotte so we can work out together. (She is my regular 5K partner, but I couldn't convince her to run the half-marathon with me.) My father also has a standing offer to pay for martial arts training for me so I am not raped, abducted, murdered, or some combination of the three. I think he gets nervous about my living in a city where I don't know anyone and where I am often out on the road alone running. I don't worry too much about that, honestly, but martial arts seems like an awesome stress buster and a great way to gain some muscle.

So the question remains whether or not to join a gym while I'm here in Raleigh or to wait. 97 - 98 degree highs all the upcoming week. I think my decision may be made for me.

Things I learned today:
Gatorade is no substitute for water.
Reduced fat oreos taste like they're reduced fat.
Sports bras are pretty much one-use-only.
Note to self: Buy more sports bras...

This weekend should be interesting: Bachelorette party tomorrow, wedding Saturday. Plenty of opportunity to botch the work I've put into this. Running shoes are the first thing I'm packing tonight.
This weekend's goals: 4 mile run, 2 mile run, Tae-Bo (1/2 hour core-building video).

Re-cap

Here's how it all began:
I picked up a Runner's World magazine during my layover in Atlanta at the beginning of May, where I was returning from a 5K at Walt Disney World. To be honest, it was just a great excuse to get away for a few days with my older sister and a certain famous mouse. (Don't misunderstand - we ran our butts off - no PR, but we did all right.)

The next weekend I was scanning through it as I got ready for bed. I saw a bright orange page, an ad for the Hartford ING Marathon/Half-Marathon/5K/Fun Run/whatever else they can cram into one event. I stopped. I read it over. Considered it. Then sent a simple message to my best friend, who lives a mere 1/2 hour outside of Hartford: "Half Marathon in Hartford in October. Can I crash at your place?" She called the next day. Admitted that she had been out drinking the night before and had no idea if she had even responded or what she might have said. I ask again if it would be okay if I stayed at her place for that weekend.

"I'll do you one better," she says. "I'll run it with you." Girly squealing and intense excitement ensued. Not only do I get to see my best friend (who I only see about once a year), but we're going to share blood, sweat and tears on the streets of Hartford. We registered and now it's official: 129 days til 13.1 miles.

I'll be honest, I've never liked running. There has been only one other time in my life that I ran with any regularity and to be frank, it was a time of obsession and pain and hurt. For me to go from couch potato to runner extraordinaire and half-marathoner in 6 months is no small feat.

I started running on a weekly basis the week after I got back from Disney. I've been running monthly 5Ks for almost 7 months now and this is the first time I've hit the asphalt between races. It's not easy. It's tough. But surprisingly, I'm starting to enjoy it. I'm starting to crave it, as crazy as that sounds.

We'll go into the reasons for that later, I'm sure, as the turmoil in my personal life is part of the reason I run: for escape, for peace, for that 45 minutes to myself where no one can touch me.

For now, I'll just end with today's stats, though I'll be honest, I don't exactly remember the number on the scale this morning.

Weight: 148. Ish.
Mileage: 2.5 mi.
Today's lesson: Lean pockets can totally be part of a balanced meal.