Towpath Half Marathon

Completed my first 13.1 - YES!!! and completed it in 2:27 just under my hopeful goal of 2:30. Was a beautifully cool day and had no hydration issues. When all was said and done it was hard to believe what I'd actually accomplished. Even now, I'm not even sure I did it - except I did!!

Yikes

Crap. Ok. Here goes. I'm putting it out there, so no backing out...right?!

On October 11th, I am going to do the Towpath 1/2 Marathon . I am really hoping that completing the 10-miler earlier this year will help me to be prepared a little more for this race...I mean it's ONLY another 3.1 miles...Right?!?... Ha...

I am running away to Canada this weekend (ok, not literally running there) but then once I am back I will have 10 weeks to get it together and figure out this whole nutrition/hydration thingy because THAT is where I am really lacking. Well that and completing 13.1 miles...

"Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's heaven on Earth." ~ Mark Twain

Thursday morning (yesterday) I did something I have never really done before, or at least not as an adult and most definitely never before on purpose. I ran in the rain. Wait, did I say rain?, was that rain? or was it a mini-monsoon? Irregardless, there was lots of water falling from the sky when I woke up and yet I still proceeded to get dressed put on my running shoes and headed out the door...on purpose.

Previously I was always able to come up with a really good reason to not run outside when it is raining but I decided it was time to get back out there and run a race, the Winking Lizard race this Saturday in downtown Cleveland, and with a look at this weeks rainy forecast and more importantly the dismal looking forecast showing for Saturday night I figured I'd better just suck it up and go run. End result - I survived all 3 miles, it wasn't miserable, I think I actually came back smiling and most importantly I did not melt!

While out playing in the rain lots of things happened to me. I found out that although I may not melt in the rain, it has been charged as an accessory to murder in the death of my iPhone :( I remembered what it's like to not run with music and only with the voices in my head for company. I found out that I run at the same pace no matter what the weather brings. I accepted the internal fear I have for running on Saturday and ultimately for a race that is still 3 months away. I found out important things like my running socks although wringing wet when I got home where not squishy in my shoes and kept my feet feeling oddly dryish. I remembered the joy you can feel when splashing in a puddle. I remembered that I run for ME and no one else.

...it was a great morning.

Uncertainty

Somehow several weeks have passed with my updates, and yet the world continues to go on? That is odd....

So life has been flying by and yet creeping along at the same time. Summer is almost upon us and some mornings have been beautiful and some still a bit chilly...welcome to Cleveland! My running has been coming along, I haven't really been following my training schedule due to all the ups and downs going on around me but I have managed to keep on moving...and that is a good thing.

Week of May 18 - 24; I managed to get in just over 28 miles.
Week of May 25 - 31; 25 1/2 miles for the week.
Week of June 1 - 7; just over 31 miles for the week.
Week of June 8 - 14; just shy of 23 miles for the week.

So all-in-all the past four weeks haven't been bad. Last week and possibly the next couple weeks my miles will probably be in the low 20's or possibly below...but I am still keeping myself moving and that's where I need to keep my focus at right now. During this "down-time" of sorts though I am getting myself off the treadmill and am running outside. My heel is feeling it, but with continuing my stretching after 1 week of outside running it is actually feeling pretty good. This is a PLUS.

As for the rest of my life...I've mentioned my lay-off and we received the official paperwork and even though I knew it was coming, it still was enough to make you feel like you'd gotten punched in the gut. As of today there are 12 business days left and we are STILL waiting to find out who is and isn't going forward. As a quick recap - I work the government, the county government. They are closing two departments and opening one combined department supposedly with a mix of people from each of the previous two departments. They have hired the directors (all from the department I am not in) and have interviewed and selected a few of the manager positions. As for the rest of us "line-staff", we are waiting to be interviewed...and rumors are surfacing and drama is ensuing and tensions are rising. It's good times!

But as I get sucked into all that is going on I try to remind myself every so often that whatever is best for me, is what will happen and whatever happens I will make the most of the situation! It's like my running...just keep moving, in the end you always feel better than you did at the start! Sometimes you stumble and fall but you just pick yourself up, make sure your not exposing yourself, dust yourself off and keep right on moving...

oh and running blogger Steve is hosting a great contest to win free shoes!!!! SHOES, FOR FREE!!!! check him out to see how to get your name into the contest - http://iwannagetphysical.blogspot.com/

Re-Running

So...I ran my 10-miler, de-hydrated and beat down but as I mentioned in my last update (if you managed to make it alllllll the way through to the end), I got back up on the horse or well the treadmill and gave it a go again. It was tough and a little uncomfortable, but I ran a couple miles on Monday, then pushed it to five miles on both Tuesday and Wednesday, and then squeaked out 8 on Thursday knowing I'd be on vacation and not see the gym until Monday... I'm not going to lie, there were glimpses of the way I felt laying in bed Saturday after completing the race, I think there may have even been a few dry heaves in there...but I ran. I ran because it's what I've been working so hard towards being able to do. I ran because that's what I started doing after my brother and my Dad died -- if I quit running now, it might be like saying good-bye to them all over again. I ran because it is who I want to be. It was uncomfortable. But then again, don't we usually have to get through the uncertainty of things, the uncomfortable areas in our lives in order to get to the sweet sweet rewards in the end -- and oh how much sweeter they are when you've had to really work towards getting them. So, I ran.

Thursday evening a friend and I headed out to South Carolina for a couple of days. We drove straight through the night alternating drivers every 3 or so hours. The time went by amazingly quick and the hours were filled with laughter and good conversation. We finally stopped at a rest area just outside of Charleston and crashed for a couple of hours then headed off for breakfast and a few other stops before heading to the resort we were staying at on Isle of Palms. We got there and our bungalow was ready...it was beautiful. The beach was just a minute from our spot and we were practically pool-side. There were only a few other people in the surrounding bungalows in our little area, it was great!! I ran on the beach for the first time ever on Saturday. Not really sure how far I ran, but I ran for 60 minutes which is about 5 miles for me, so that's what I'm sticking with. It was tougher than I thought it would be and my hips tightened up after about the first 20 minutes -- but it was beautiful, the sounds of the ocean and people living and loving life on the beach. I had my music going but had it turned so far down I could barely hear it, I was loving just taking in the sounds of my surroundings. Time passed fairly quick, a whole lot quicker than the treadmill that is for sure! A few hours after running, my left heel was a little sore. Woke up early on Sunday to get in a run before leaving and my heel really hurt...so I ran. Ok, I'm not the brightest -- yes, and this has been well documented if you've read previous posts. Was windier on Sunday, so stopped and walked for a bit mid-way through the run but still put in my 60 minutes -- so since the effort was the same, I'm going with calling it another 5 miles.

Totals for the week somewhere around 34 miles. Worked out twice with Trainer-Steve, who is finally back from his vacation.

Injury update, I clearly caused the plantar fasciitis to flair up in my left foot with running on the beach so have taken both yesterday and today off from running. Most of Monday at the gym was spent with Trainer-Steve getting stretched out followed by a short workout. Scheduled to workout with him again on Wednesday and Friday morning (before heading out for another weekend away).

Trainer-Steve brought up the Cleveland Marathon and running the Half. However with the current soreness and being away this past weekend and this next weekend I just don't think I'm ready to try my hand at it. I was however, on the website this morning checking out fees and I noticed the 10k registration...I'd forgotten about them doing the 10k also...hmmm, what to do, what to do...

The Weekend is here and Setting Goals

Why do the short work weeks always feel like they are twice as long as they are?...

Other than clearly not getting enough sleep lately (4 or 5 hours is just not cutting it!) and missing the gym twice, it has actually been a pretty good week and looking back it appears as though I made the most of the three workouts that I was able to get in.

10/13 - (recapped) skipped gym due to knee issues and a tender back
10/14 - barely got in 4 hours of sleep due to staying up to watch that awesome Browns game (seriously, who the hell was that team out there in our uniforms playing? and clearly that could not have really really been DA -- maybe Quinn was trying out his Halloween costume?...lets just hope they bring it again this week). Anywho... with little sleep in the system, no energy and a little crabby I headed to the gym. Put in 4 miles on the treadmill and felt 100% better and cheerier when done.
10/15 - got a whopping 5 hours of sleep and had a kick-butt session with trainer-Steve. I was completely exhausted when my hour was up but managed to get in 3.6 miles on the treadmill.
10/16 - skipped gym, another night of sleep deprivation but somehow managed to get in 5 hours and just not enough energy to hit the gym for a workout or a run.
10/17 - just 4 hours of sleep, went and watched G play hockey and didn't get home until 11pm, then took me a whole hour+ to fall asleep. Managed to wake up energized though and headed to the gym -- treadmill - 5.27 miles!

Okay, so this is sorta big for me here. Since the month of October has started I have been toying around with starting to set more goals with my running. Currently my goal is something like, "...just get your butt up in the morning and try to pretend you are a runner". But the thing is, I don't think I want to keep pretending, I think I really want to be a real runner. A couple weeks back my friend G and I were talking about running and how much he hates it and how he thinks of me as a "runner"...I liked the way that sounded and felt. So, I have been toying with this idea of setting more concrete goals. I was looking at what I've done so far for the month of October:

week ending 10/04 - 14.65 miles for the week
week ending 10/11 - 12.79 miles for the week
week ending 10/18 - 12.87 miles for the week so far...

This morning trainer-Steve told me that he has the time from 6-7am open tomorrow and asked if I wanted to come in and run with him, granted it's more treadmill work but again I really think it's helping me to understand what pacing feels like and to know where my heart rate is and all that jazz. SO, I am heading to the gym to run with Steve at 6am tomorrow and then having my training session with him at 8am. If it's a good day I am hoping to put in another 5 miles (again...i am slow...it takes me about an hour to crank out 5 miles) which would put me at 17.87 miles for the week -- this would be the most miles ever for me... like as in first time EVER in the 41 years I have been on this earth. And here's the accountant in me coming out maybe, I am sort of wanting to round that off to an even 20, I mean that'd only be another 2.13 miles right?... Hmmmm.... that would mean 7.13 miles, ok today's 5 miles is only the 2nd time I've ever run that far, I am just not sure I am going to pull out the extra and then still be able to move to get through my training session (lol)... Ok, so I will plan for the 5 miles tomorrow (fingers and toes crossed -- well maybe just fingers, it'd be tough to run with the toes crossed) and then just sort of see what happens...

Ok, well, it appears as though I have just set a minor goal.

Now to think about a mileage goal for next week...
"hmmmm, how many miles..." it looks like I've given myself something to think about on my run tomorrow.

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend!!