Reality!

I just got my confirmation email for packet pick-up for the Chicago Distance Classic...that means the half marathon is almost here!!!! That email was such a wake up call for me! My first half marathon in over 5 years! My first medal! My first real reality check as to how this marathon is going to shape up! And the crazy thing is that I'm sooooo excited! They are going to have pace groups and I think that it will really benefit me. I just have to figure out what group to run with. My pace in my last 2 races has been much quicker than usual: 10:14 & 10:40 (if I remember correctly). BUT, those were both shorter races. An 11 minute mile pace would put me at a 2 hour 26 minute finish. The paces groups are 2:15 and 2:30. Do I start in the 2:15 and see how it feels? Do I go with the 2:30 and leave them in the dust if I can do better? Decisions, decisions! At least I'm excited rather than terrified! I know I can do this...despite my crappy commitment to my training :)...and I just can't wait to cross that finish line!!!

Just writing to write...

Not a whole lot to report at this point. Last week's new schedule went suprisingly fabulous. This week, however, was another story! Due to long hours at work, I only made it out for 2 runs, neither of which was my long one. I have my Nike Women's 10k tomorrow so that will be fun...except I picked up my stuff yesterday and my shirt has a stain on it! WTF? Out of all the shirts they have for this race, I get the stained one? Bogus, man, bogus!

I really need to be getting my long runs in if I'm going to run this marathon. At this point, I'm pretty convinced there will be a stretch where I walk. That bites. Just barely over 2 months to conquer this thing!

Transition Successful

So far, anyway! I knocked out my 10 miles on Saturday with minimal problem. Again, I waited until the evening to avoid the heat...and getting up early :) I found that I definitely ran out of mental stamina before I did physical. I just get bored way too fase, especially running the same route over and over. Music isn't enough to distract me. I was tired when I got done, but I'd say it was the easiest 10 miles I've done yet. And I didn't even wear my heart rate monitor!

I was all jazzed to get up this morning and begin the conversion to AM running...yeah, that was until the alarm went off! I was like, hell no!!!! So, I didn't :) Luckily, its only 5 miles and the evenings seem to be cooling off nicely. I will definitely get it in tonight! I may have to move my long run to Friday night because I have the Nike Women's 10k on Sunday morning. 12 miles on a Friday night doesn't seem to exciting, but then again, I'll have all day Saturday to lay around and recover!

I ate this little pastry about an hour ago and I'm already beginning to feel the fatigue take hold...oh no...

It's On...

Anyone living in Chicago knows that my 8 miles did not happen on Wednesday night. We had ridiculous thunderstorms and the rain just wouldn't quit. I ran about 4 house lengths from my car to my place and was drenched! The "had to strip down and towel myself off" kind of soaking! So I went out last night instead to try to get the miles in. And I did! The weather was perfect...except a serious headwind the whole way back :( That was rough. The best part was that it wasn't hard! I think I could have kept going! Maybe it's the mornings that are messing me up. That is the only thing I can think of. You don't have much fuel in your system, your body isn't really awake yet. That is no excuse since the marathon is in the morning and I'll have to figure out a way to make mornings better. My original schedule said to do 11 miles Saturday, but this new one is 10...not sure which I'll go for...maybe whatever I can manage! So far, things are looking up!

Almost...

I wrote that little confession blog yesterday after I had made the same confession to my two marathon/triathalon friends. Let me tell you, they whipped my thinking back into shape in a heartbeat! One told me to throw away that crap training schedule I was on because it wasn't doing enough to build my endurance. He then adjusted his schedule from his training last year to something that I could work with and told me to DO IT!!! So, I did :) There is waaaaaaay more running in this schedule (5 days vs 4 day a week) and the distances are definitely greater. It might kill me. For real. But, with how I've been struggling, I figure its worth a shot.

It started with 5 miles last night. Those 5 miles were great! But, the first run back is always great because your body is fully rested and recovered. I waited until just as the sun was setting since things have been getting a little hot around here. That didn't stop the humidity from being annoying though! And once the sun was down, oh geez...watch out for the bug swarms!!! You can't see them until you are in them, literally. And I was sweating so I'd get the occasional knat stuck to my face! Gross! The upside? Lightning bugs!!!! We don't have those back in Oregon, but I remember the days of spending summers back east to visit my family (my mom is from the Big Apple) and every night me and the girl that lived next door to my grandparents would go outside and try to catch them. It was such a highlight for me since I only got to see them once a year! So, last night, I'm running along and its starting to get creepy dark and I'm having thoughts about getting abducted from the path and then I see it! That little greenish glow for just a second! A smile immediately jumped on my face! For the last mile and a half, all I did was watch for lightning bugs. For some reason, that just made the run for me! I then proceeded to miss the final mile marker sign in the dark...must have been in some trees or something and I almost got lost :) In the dark, on the lake...scary.

Tonight I'm supposed to run 8 miles. This is intimidating me severly. For one, we are having storms and the weather may not make this a good run. Then there is just the fact that it is 8 miles. That is almost an hour and a half of running. It will take my whole evening. I hate that.

This is the test

I'm truly struggling right now. After 2 bad weekend runs in a row, my motivation is crap. I didn't run at all last week and haven't so far this week either. I've been seriously beginning to feel like I don't want this bad enough. It's been RELAXING not to run for a week! To not have to wake up at the crack of dawn or feel guilty for NOT waking up. To not have to battle the heat when all you want to do is curl up on the couch in your central A/C. To not have to give up another Friday night of fun because you have a 6am run to get to. This isn't fun anymore. As Jon put it, I lost my Eye of the Tiger...he suggests I watch Rocky III :)

I don't want to be a quitter. How do I get the will back? The want back? This frustrating in such a major way because a part of me would be so relieved to throw in the towel...but the other part doesn't want to have invested so much time, energy and of course, money for nothing! Augh! I'm told every runner goes through this in their training and I can't let it stop me. I have to move forward and passed it because nothing will feel as great as crossing the finish line in October. Help...

Ouch!

In so many ways... First of all, my boy Jon was visiting and decided to run my long run with me this week. He is currently involved in triathlons, but hadn't run a distance this long ever. We set out and I knew I was going to fast, but I felt pressure because he is in such good shape, I thought he would get bored running so slow. Well, by 5.5 miles my heart rate was way too high and I decided I needed to walk a bit. Believe it or not, he went on ahead without me! AND he finished the whole 9 miles! He is my hero! I alternated between running and walking the remainder of the 3.5 miles. So, that was ouch number one.

Then, we had signed up to do the Race for the Taste 5k on Sunday. I was already tired from Saturday's run. I haven't gotten to sleep in for 2 weeks. And, basically, I just didn't want to do it! But, Jon was not having that! Got my butt up at 6am. We got ready and headed down to Grant Park. He decided he was gonna run this 5k for time since that is the length he runs for his tris. I, on the otherhad, was just going to try to finish it without walking! Once it started though, I pushed myself to not just jog, even though my body was tired. I ran it faster than I run my usual runs, but still probably not as fast as I could have if I hadn't have run on Saturday. I ended up finish in at just over a 10 minute mile pace. I'll take that! That was ouch number two.

As part of the goodie bag for Race to the Taste, you got a free strip of tickets. But, the Taste didn't open until 11am and the race ended around 9:30. So, we hung out and waited. Then walked around it for a bit. Then ate. Then finally decided to head home. Um, let's just say a little sunblock might have been a good idea! I was fried! It didn't look so bad at the time, but as the day wore on and the burn "developed"...wow. And ouch number three.

Now, I'm exhausted. I ran both days. I didn't sleep too well last night cuz of the burn. And I'm tried of getting up early :)