Anxiety has more than set in about this half marathon that is less than 6 days away. Here are some quick updates for you!For starters, one of my best friends got engaged on Friday!!!! I am beyond excited for her and her hubby to be! I needed to get this said first because I continue to find myself at random telling people in the middle of conversations because I will think of it and get so excited.
Lucky for you all though, I have been spending my time doing things other than obsessing over my friends engagement. I did a couple of short runs last week to keep my legs streched out. Both were kind of eh. I know that isn't the best description, but it is very fitting. My right knee hurt for both runs, not enough for me to be in tears or anything like that, but enough for me to curse every now and then and have it slow me down. This has added just that extra bit of pre-race anxiety. I already know I am less than prepared for this race (aka I'm going to be slow as hell), but now I have to worry that I'm going to be even slower. Fingers are staying crossed that all will be better by race day.
I have been working all weekend (I know you are all jealous of my life) and am now on day 8 of work in a row. What I figured out this means is I will work 12 days straight, travel to Rhode Island Saturday, and run a half marathon Sunday. I know, the jealousy is just boiling over right now! Added to this is the triathlon Paul has on Saturday morning, which means I don't actually get to sleep past 7 am until...May 12. Yes I am complaining about this mostly because I love sleep and don't get enough of it.
So there you go, anxiety, extra work, lack of sleep, and annoying knee. All a great combo for a 1/2 marathon that you haven't really trained for! My personal pity party for myself is done now, thank you all for taking part. I'm off now to run in the hopes it will boost my confidence enough so that I don't think I'm absolutely crazy for doing this race!
Happy Monday everyone!!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
5 am is too early for anything
This morning I got myself out of bed at 5 am on the nose and happily got dressed and ran down the street to the track for a track workout. Ok....that's crap. My morning really went something like this.
5am: Alarm goes off. Still half asleep, I throw the phone to Paul to make the alarm stop.
5:01 am: I begin to be poked to get up. Repeatedly poked. I finally realize why at 5 am the alarm is going off. Tell myself over and over that I really do like track workouts and to just get up. I instead beg Paul to let me sleep for just 1 more minute. An argument then begins about what 1 more minute will do for me.
5:03 am: After my extra two minutes of sleep, Paul starts poking and arguing again to get me out of bed. In my mind I keep thinking "just get up, once you are up it will be ok". The bed is so warm though and I know it's cold out. I lay there quietly and hope that Paul forgets about my craziness of the track workout and falls back asleep.
5:05 am: Paul finally got smart and decided the best way to get me up is to literally push me right out of bed. More yelling from me about this ridiculousness and then I was up and moving, sort of.
5:15 am: I am at the track. I successfully got dressed (some what properly for the weather), had water, my watch, and music. You can't ask for too much more from me at 5:15 am.
I did a warm up run a little to get myself awake enough and then started my track workout. I've been having a lot of issues the past week or two with my hip, I know, I'm an old lady. Today was no different, except my right knee decided to join in with my hip. We aren't going to talk anymore about this in the hopes it just goes away.
After all was said and done though I was happy with my track workout. I did an extra run, but I also was even faster than last week. On average I was at least 15 seconds faster each time. I'm thinking it mostly was because last week was my first time (ever) that I did a track workout. Overall successful track work out! I have a run tonight (shhh don't tell Paul we're running), run on Thursday and a long run Saturday!
See you again next week track workout!
Happy Tuesday everyone!!
5am: Alarm goes off. Still half asleep, I throw the phone to Paul to make the alarm stop.
5:01 am: I begin to be poked to get up. Repeatedly poked. I finally realize why at 5 am the alarm is going off. Tell myself over and over that I really do like track workouts and to just get up. I instead beg Paul to let me sleep for just 1 more minute. An argument then begins about what 1 more minute will do for me.
5:03 am: After my extra two minutes of sleep, Paul starts poking and arguing again to get me out of bed. In my mind I keep thinking "just get up, once you are up it will be ok". The bed is so warm though and I know it's cold out. I lay there quietly and hope that Paul forgets about my craziness of the track workout and falls back asleep.
5:05 am: Paul finally got smart and decided the best way to get me up is to literally push me right out of bed. More yelling from me about this ridiculousness and then I was up and moving, sort of.
5:15 am: I am at the track. I successfully got dressed (some what properly for the weather), had water, my watch, and music. You can't ask for too much more from me at 5:15 am.
I did a warm up run a little to get myself awake enough and then started my track workout. I've been having a lot of issues the past week or two with my hip, I know, I'm an old lady. Today was no different, except my right knee decided to join in with my hip. We aren't going to talk anymore about this in the hopes it just goes away.
After all was said and done though I was happy with my track workout. I did an extra run, but I also was even faster than last week. On average I was at least 15 seconds faster each time. I'm thinking it mostly was because last week was my first time (ever) that I did a track workout. Overall successful track work out! I have a run tonight (shhh don't tell Paul we're running), run on Thursday and a long run Saturday!
See you again next week track workout!
Happy Tuesday everyone!!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
7 miles and a track workout
After my mini freak out last week about running, I got back in the groove very quickly. After having a horrible run on Monday morning, I went back out again Monday after work. While I wasn't thrilled I couldn't do the mileage at the same time, I'm glad at the end of the day I got done what I needed. I decided I need to be a little bit better with my schedule for running, which will result in me being a little more selfish. Half of my problem was not scheduling my time correctly, and the other half was not sticking to the things I scheduled and letting other problems get in the way.
I continued with my training Thursday morning at 5 am! 5 am people! I don't wake up at 5 am for anything, especially if coffee isn't involved. It was all my idea too which is even more ridiculous. I had wanted to start working on my speed by adding in track workouts. I knew Paul did them, as well as most other runners I know, all who say they help a lot. I knew I wouldn't have time to run after work, so morning was the only way to go. Paul, as usual, was happy with waking up early for a run, and was also the only reason I actually got out of bed at 5 am. We walked down the street to the track and got started. I, surprisingly, enjoyed it a lot. I will absolutely be adding a weekly track work out for the next two months. In June I'll most likely add in two track workouts a week.
Today was my long run day. Since my race is two weekends away I would of liked to be running a long run of 10 miles today, but with my lack of distance lately I knew that wasn't the right way to go. I was hoping to do a solid 6 and come out feeling better about my running. I know race day if I go into it with good runs recently, no matter the distance, I at least will be mentally prepared.
I got ready for my run and decided to borrow a pair of Paul's CEP compression socks. We basically have the same calf size (I know let's not talk about how horrifying that is) so I figured they would be fine. I recently got a free pair, which I hopefully will have before my race, but I wanted to try them out ahead of time. Paul and I left for our run with the plan to meet up at the track in an hour. We rarely run together, and after the disaster when we did last weekend, I think he was thrilled to hear I was good with running separately. Right when I started I felt ok and thought I could add in some mileage. I knew Paul wanted to run 10 miles, and in the time he ran 10 I could run 7 (again I know let's not talk about this ridiculousness either). After about 5 minutes of running my calves were burning! Completely on fire and I decided I hated compression socks. Every step I took hurt. I slowly went through the first 3 miles in pain. I walked when I needed to, but tried to run as much as I could. I decided in mile 4 to ignore the pain as much as I could and run the 4th mile hard. I have no idea why I did this, but I got through the 4th mile strong. The 5th was much more painful because of my intense mile 4, but the compression socks felt better. I decided I might not hate them as much as I thought, and think the initial pain was from first time use, lack of stretching, and the fact that they are men's and not really fitted for my legs.
I headed over to the track to look for Paul at the start of my 6th mile, hoping he would be there early and with more water. Sadly he wasn't, and I ran my last two miles water free. Was my time fantastic? No not at all, but I was on pace with what I want for this race and I fought hard for all 7 miles.
Coming out of my running slump I knew getting back into it wouldn't be easy. I have two weeks until the Providence 1/2 marathon and my main goal is to keep in a good mindset. I'm going to be doing 2 short runs this week, a track workout, and a 6 mile run Saturday. Staying on track these last few weeks I think will be huge in helping me get through the 1/2.
Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!
I continued with my training Thursday morning at 5 am! 5 am people! I don't wake up at 5 am for anything, especially if coffee isn't involved. It was all my idea too which is even more ridiculous. I had wanted to start working on my speed by adding in track workouts. I knew Paul did them, as well as most other runners I know, all who say they help a lot. I knew I wouldn't have time to run after work, so morning was the only way to go. Paul, as usual, was happy with waking up early for a run, and was also the only reason I actually got out of bed at 5 am. We walked down the street to the track and got started. I, surprisingly, enjoyed it a lot. I will absolutely be adding a weekly track work out for the next two months. In June I'll most likely add in two track workouts a week.
Today was my long run day. Since my race is two weekends away I would of liked to be running a long run of 10 miles today, but with my lack of distance lately I knew that wasn't the right way to go. I was hoping to do a solid 6 and come out feeling better about my running. I know race day if I go into it with good runs recently, no matter the distance, I at least will be mentally prepared.
I got ready for my run and decided to borrow a pair of Paul's CEP compression socks. We basically have the same calf size (I know let's not talk about how horrifying that is) so I figured they would be fine. I recently got a free pair, which I hopefully will have before my race, but I wanted to try them out ahead of time. Paul and I left for our run with the plan to meet up at the track in an hour. We rarely run together, and after the disaster when we did last weekend, I think he was thrilled to hear I was good with running separately. Right when I started I felt ok and thought I could add in some mileage. I knew Paul wanted to run 10 miles, and in the time he ran 10 I could run 7 (again I know let's not talk about this ridiculousness either). After about 5 minutes of running my calves were burning! Completely on fire and I decided I hated compression socks. Every step I took hurt. I slowly went through the first 3 miles in pain. I walked when I needed to, but tried to run as much as I could. I decided in mile 4 to ignore the pain as much as I could and run the 4th mile hard. I have no idea why I did this, but I got through the 4th mile strong. The 5th was much more painful because of my intense mile 4, but the compression socks felt better. I decided I might not hate them as much as I thought, and think the initial pain was from first time use, lack of stretching, and the fact that they are men's and not really fitted for my legs.
I headed over to the track to look for Paul at the start of my 6th mile, hoping he would be there early and with more water. Sadly he wasn't, and I ran my last two miles water free. Was my time fantastic? No not at all, but I was on pace with what I want for this race and I fought hard for all 7 miles.
Coming out of my running slump I knew getting back into it wouldn't be easy. I have two weeks until the Providence 1/2 marathon and my main goal is to keep in a good mindset. I'm going to be doing 2 short runs this week, a track workout, and a 6 mile run Saturday. Staying on track these last few weeks I think will be huge in helping me get through the 1/2.
Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Marathon Monday
Hello blog world! Ok, now before you all get on me about my disappearing act, let me explain. In my ever continuing love/hate relationship with running, at this current moment in my life I'm in the hate stage. What is worse than going for a run while you hate running, oh that would be writing about how miserable your running has been. In less than 3 weeks I will have my first of six 1/2 marathons, not the best time to hate running.
So what have I been up to other than hating running you ask? Two weekends ago I was in Boston for Easter weekend and loved it! Always nice to go back. I also got a couple of days off work to relax and hang out with Paul during his school vacation week. This past weekend there was so much I wanted to do. For starters Paul and I went to the Rangers play off game Saturday night!
Sunday I would given just about anything to be at Carolyn's baby shower in Boston!
Sadly, I was at work. I know right?! To say I wasn't thrilled is probably one of the largest understatements ever.
Yesterday, I would of also given just about anything to go hang out with some awesome people and enjoy the Boston Marathon. Sadly the excuse "but I'm from Boston, what do you mean I have to work on Patriots Day?" wasn't going to fly at work.
So what does all of that have to do with my hate relationship of running? It's pretty simple actually. Work, as always, has been coming first. Times that I should be getting up early to run before work, or going to run after work, I'm not. Instead I'm in work early or staying late, or both. Saturday was going to be my big long run day that I tried to get myself pumped up for. I then kept thinking about all the things I wasn't able to do that weekend, and pretty much had a pity party for myself in the middle of my run. To say it was a bad run is another understatement. Paul had decided to run with me as well, so he had to sit and watch my break down.
I decided yesterday morning I would try again to do the run and surprise, it sucked. It wasn't a huge shock to me at all. What happens when you don't run consistently? Oh that's right, you get slower and can't go as far. None of this would be an issue if I didn't have a race in less than 3 weeks. So yes you add all this crap that I am spewing up, and you get me in a giant hate mood towards running. It had been growing and growing the past couple weeks, and finally boiled over this weekend. Yesterday morning for about 10 minutes I had decided I was done with running.
Lucky for all of you that enjoy reading a blog about running, I turned my mood around. While a nice skinny vanilla late, an 85 and sunny degree day, and a pep talk from the boyfriend helps, something else pulled me out of my funk. MARATHON MONDAY!
Yes I hated that I couldn't be in Boston for it. I think I updated my twitter every 3 seconds at work to see the updates. However, you can't help but love running when you watch the Boston Marathon. It is so inspiring to see everyone come out for the race, especially in 90 degree heat! It also reminded me of a moment while I was in DC. After I finished my half, I was waiting at the finish line for Paul to finish the full. I stood there and watched so many people finish, and to see their faces when it happened was AMAZING! Have you ever stood at the finish line of a marathon? I don't think anything is more inspiring. I literally had tears in my eyes watching this at one point. I know I'm dramatic, if you are just realizing this you clearly don't know me well. Watching all the Boston updates yesterday, and reliving that moment in DC, my overwhelming love for running came back. Now I'm also not crazy to think that just like any speed or distance will come back to me, but one step at a time!
I have new plans for running for the next few months. While I'm training for all these races I need to be in the right mind set, which I think I am now.
I hope you all got to enjoy Marathon Monday yesterday! Happy Tuesday everyone!
I hope you all got to enjoy Marathon Monday yesterday! Happy Tuesday everyone!
Monday, April 2, 2012
How the UHC Triple Crown came to be
So you may all be wondering how I ended up going from my original plan of 1 to 2 half marathons to 7 total for 2012. Don't worry if you are confused, I'm still sort of wondering this myself. As I mentioned last week, I was chosen to blog about the 3 United Health Care 1/2 marathons! I was beyond excited when selected for a few reasons. For starters, there is my love of Rhode Island. There is something about going back to New England that always makes me happy, and Rhode Island to me is almost as exciting as going back to Boston!
The third and final reason I was interested in running these races, was of course, redemption. If you haven't heard my ridiculous story of my 1st 1/2 marathon, well here you go. Long story short, I ran this 13.1 race in 2009 in rain, hail, freezing cold, ridiculousness. The entire race I swore I would never run again, and afterwords I swore I would get redemption some day.
So there you go. I was in for the Newport 1/2 marathon, and am always up for more races in Rhode Island! Will running 6 more 1/2 marathons this year be hard for me? Of course it will, but adding the UHC Triple Crown to my race schedule I already know will be exactly what I need. I started training today, and am ready to keep pushing myself right up until I finish every single one of these races. The Newport 1/2 will be the last one for me of the season and I am more than ready for my redemption!
Happy Monday Everyone!!!
Love Rhode Island and all the views!
Another reason I was interested was because last year I was unable to participate in the Newport 1/2 marathon. Unfortunately because of work, after signing up I had to back out of the race. My work schedule left me with no time to run, and absolutely zero time to eat healthy. I went and watched Paul and my cousin run the race. As much as I enjoy watching races on the sidelines, there is something depressing about watching a race you were planning on running. After the race I swore I would be back the next year to run it, and not let training problems stand in my way again.
The third and final reason I was interested in running these races, was of course, redemption. If you haven't heard my ridiculous story of my 1st 1/2 marathon, well here you go. Long story short, I ran this 13.1 race in 2009 in rain, hail, freezing cold, ridiculousness. The entire race I swore I would never run again, and afterwords I swore I would get redemption some day.
So there you go. I was in for the Newport 1/2 marathon, and am always up for more races in Rhode Island! Will running 6 more 1/2 marathons this year be hard for me? Of course it will, but adding the UHC Triple Crown to my race schedule I already know will be exactly what I need. I started training today, and am ready to keep pushing myself right up until I finish every single one of these races. The Newport 1/2 will be the last one for me of the season and I am more than ready for my redemption!
Happy Monday Everyone!!!
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