Double Digits!!!

Week 11

Total Miles:  23 Miles

Long Run:  10 Miles!!!

This week was bittersweet.  I started off with a horrible case of the "I don't wanna's," which is never a good mindset to have.  I had a bit of a childish tantrum on Tuesday morning, so we didn't run.  Poor Tim.  I know he could not anticipate the monster that came out of me at 5 o'clock in the morning and I am so grateful that he forgives easily.  Despite being a brat, I managed to pull myself together and get my miles in, but they were slow and mentally hard for me.  I like to say that I love running all the time, but sometimes I think I just love running when I am done with it!  I'm not sure if that makes sense or not.  I mean, after I run my required miles I feel awesome, but sometimes those few minutes before I start the run, I hate it with a passion!  I do notice now that it's really just the first and last mile that I remember during certain runs.  The first mile I'm just trying to will myself to get through it, the last mile I am soaring with the anticipation of being done.  I love that last mile. 

On top of the high-speed come apart I had early in the week, the blister monster decided to rear it's ugly head.  I had the gnarliest blister on the side of my left foot.  At first, it just looked bad, but the night before the long run, it was also hurting a bit.  So, I struggled with that for a bit.  Should I run on it?  Should I try doing something with?  Grr.  In the end, I thought it would be best to just run on it and fix it afterwards.  That seemed to work fine, because it's not hurting anymore and it no longer looks terrible.  My feet are far from pretty though! 

The long run this week was 10 miles.  Not gonna lie, 10 was the scariest number because it's the first double digit mile run and after getting through 10 miles of a half, all that is left is a 5k.  So, 10 miles was a big deal.  I felt good the morning of the run.  I slept well, the air was a bit cooler and I knew I would be running with Leah and Jaime (seriously, running with those ladies just helps so much!).  When I got to Leah's, I was happily surprised to see that Jaime's sister, Tracy, would be joining us as well.  She has ran a few half marathons, so having her along just felt like an extra boost of motivation!  So we started our run (along with Tim running ahead of us and once again, running circles around us!) and in the end we rocked it!  Our pace was faster than the last time we ran the 9 miles together and I think in the end, we were all feeling pretty good.  I had a few moments of struggle, but I think at some point, maybe we al had that "just not feeling it" moment.  Well, maybe not Tim and Tracy.  Tim just glided along and Tracy was always in front looking pretty comfortable.  The last mile was torture on my foot, but I managed to get through it with a little encouragement from Tim and watching Jaime's happiness of running 10 miles the last couple of minutes of running. 

So, double digit miles accomplished.  The week may have started out bitter, but running 10 miles made it pretty darn sweet in the end!  I cannot believe that I can run 10 miles!  Squee!

Side Note:

I just have to say that it is pretty darn cool to be a part of a family that is so inspiring and motivating.  It's great to be able to share this journey with Leah and Jaime.  They are rockin' the training with me and it's gonna be awesome to do the race with them!  Also, I know Tracy can break her PR during this half, she has the fire in her and I only wish we could be there to cheer her on at the end-- we are hoping to be no more than 30 minutes behind!  I give Tim a lot of props, but he is the best, so there are never enough words to describe how motivating he is to me. 

Quotes and Inspiration:

The perfect run- The wind at your back, the sun in front of you, and your friends by your side.  -Aaron Douglas Trimble

Keep on keepin' on...

Week 11

Total Miles:  21.29

Long Run:  9 miles

This week sucked.  Yes, last week’s blog was about how awesome running was, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah.  Well, I must have jinxed myself because this week was just terrible.

Honestly, the first 2 runs of the week weren’t that bad.  The nice weather held off through Tuesday, so the 5 miles to the lake and back were actually pleasant.  Wednesday was a bit warmer, but I managed to get through it.  Thursday though… sigh.  Well, it was the worst run I’ve had in months.   We were doing  the hill by the cemetery when I started to feel a little icky.  My stomach was knotted up and it was so humid out, I was having troubles getting my breathing right.  I had just gotten to the peak of the hill when I felt like I was going to throw up.  And that is what I did.  Well, sort of.  I yakked up the water I had consumed and then dry-heaved.  It was awful.

The question then became, what to do?  I hadn’t gotten to mile 2, so should I just turn around and head home?  Walk?  I was so mad at myself that I just wanted to scream.  Tim tried offering suggestions, but I was too frustrated to listen.  I decided to keep running, albeit, super slow.  When we got to the lake entrance, I knew there was no way I would make it back up that hill if we went down it, so we turned around and headed back.   Tim was having a hard time because of his legs, I was frustrated, and it was just a mess!  Needless to say, it wasn’t the best way to start a work day.    

After the not so hot run on Thursday, the very thought of running 9 miles was just daunting.  Making me even less inclined to go was the fact that I wouldn’t be running with Leah & Jaime this week because of schedules, etc.  Tim had 13 to run, so when he got up to get started, I argued with myself for a good 10 minutes.  Seriously, how is it that one crap run can just take me back to the “I don’t wanna” stage in the process?  Will I ever get past that?   It feels like for every step forward, I go two steps back!  Grrr.  Anyway, I managed to get up and run, but it was the longest 9 miles ever.  Tim is great to run with for encouragement , etc., but I really missed Leah and Jaime.  Unlike super runner Tim, they are doing all this for the first time just like me, so we have similar thoughts, complaints.  With Tim, I feel I’m just extra whiny or something.  I will say this though, that last sweaty mile would not have gotten done had it not been for him encouraging me. 

So, I can’t lie and say that the ol’ confidence isn’t shaken a bit.  I’m not looking forward to logging any miles this week.  But I will.  I just got to keep on keepin' on. 

Side Note:

One of the scheduling issues that I had with the ladies this week was that Jaime participated in the True Grit 5k Challenge with her son, Landon and her Mom, Esther.  It was a rainy, wet course and little Landon got 2nd place!  Awesome! 

Quotes and Inspiration:

The miles don’t go away; they patiently wait for us to run them. –Quote on I <3 to run Facebook page. 

Tim shared this video with me last week and it made me cry a bit.  I can't fathom the hunger and the pressure Olympic athletes feel, but I think this video shows what true determination is all about and how awesome it is to have supporters. 

Confidence

Week 10

Total Miles:  22.28 Miles

Long Run:  9.28 miles!!!!!!!!!

This week rocked.  The weather was fantastic during the week and I am pretty sure Tim and I are now adjusted to getting up at 5am.  We ran to Murphy Lake and back on both Monday and Thursday, and I am happy to say that those hills aren’t getting the best of me!  Do I like hills like Tim likes hills?  No way.  That is just not gonna happen!  But, I am not going to let them beat me! 

All week long, I had been dreading the 9 mile run.  As we keep tacking more miles on, the scarier that number just gets to me.  The weather didn’t help either.  Friday night the news kept saying there could be showers or thunderstorms in the morning on Saturday, so we decided to postpone until Sunday.  This bothered me simply because I felt like I was giving up.  You see, as a former fatty that never exercised, I am all too familiar with saying, “I’ll do it Monday” or I’ll start next week” and then Monday/next week would come and go.   I could come up with any excuse to get me out of sweating.  So, putting off the run felt oddly familiar to me.  When I got up on Saturday and saw that the weather was just fine, I was so very annoyed!  I beat myself up about it for a few hours and with some encouragement from Tim and some friends, I just shook it off and told myself no matter what I was going to run 9 miles on Sunday! 

And I so rocked those 9 miles!  We had the best weather for a long run.  Clear skies, cool temps-- it was awesome!  I didn’t have my Garmin because Tim’s was dead, so I’m not sure what my pace was the first few miles.  I’ll take a guess that it was my typical slow-unsure-I-can-really-do-this pace.  J   Midway through, I was feeling pretty good.  I took my green apple gel (which is the best tasting one that I have had so far!) and kept on a runnin’.   We hit nine a bit before Leah’s house and instead of stopping; we just kept on running until we got there.  I felt fantastic afterwards and I think Jaime and Leah felt great, too!  This run made me feel like 13.1 miles is completely doable!  I also feel like we are going to rock our 2:30 goal! 

So, confident isn’t a feeling I’m all that familiar with.  Those that know me well know that I’m pretty unsure of myself most of the time.  Heck, next week’s blog could very well be a whinefest about how I can’t do it, etc.  But, at this very moment, I am so thrilled with my progress that I feel like I could go out and run 13.1 miles tomorrow ending with a big ol’ smile on my face!  I still remember the first time I ran for 2 minutes when we were doing Couch to 5k.  I remember thinking there is no way I could ever do anymore than those 2 long minutes.  It’s so awesome to be where I am now and to look forward to where I am going to be if I keep working for it. 

Side Note: 
Tim had a whopping 20 miles to run, but he was able to meet us at Leah’s house.  He was quite spry—even playful! We would be running a little behind him and then we would lose him for a bit.  A few minutes later, he would pop up behind us!  So, he was literally running circles around us!   When he hit 17 miles, he turned to us and said, “All I have is a 5k to do.  I got this.”  Then he took off like he was racing a 5k.  I tell ya, he never stops amazing me! 

Quote of the week: 

It never gets easier.  You just get better. 
--Unknown (saw it on a poster.)

Hungry Hippo Takes on Hills!

Week 9

Total Miles:  19.65miles

Long Run*:  5 miles
*This weeks training called for running a 10k.  We decided to run Lake Murphysboro to give us a hill challenge instead. Good stuff.

This past week was an excellent week!  With the exception of Wednesday, the morning runs were not all that bad.  The weather was cooler on Tuesday, so we decided we would do "cemetery hill."  I hate that hill!  It's the hill on Illinois Avenue heading to the lake and it sucks.  I managed to do it, but there were some not so nice words coming out of my mouth.   Wednesday was miserably hot; I was grateful it was only a 3 mile run-- even Tim got a bit whiny during it!  Thursday was another 5 mile run and a bit cooler.  We had obnoxious teenagers drive past a couple of times that shouted out "Run faster!"  Tim referred to them as "cheerleaders."  Um, no.  I know some fantastic cheerleaders and those jerks were just being annoying. 

Running at the lake wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  I really appreciate having Leah & Jaime to run with.  It helps me get up and get going even when every bone in my body is telling me I don't wanna!  Just planning the time we meet makes me feel more committed to it.  Plus, it helps having someone running up a steep hill with you that doesn't care that you are mumbling to yourself or breathing so hard that you sound like Darth Vader!  We totally rocked that run though and with the exception of my calves being a bit tight, I didn't feel nearly as sore as I did the first time I ran there.  Next week is 9 miles.  Nine.  I don't have any thoughts on that one yet, except, EEEK! 

I am a freakin' hungry, hungry hippo!  I'm not sure what is going on with me lately, but I have to get a handle on my excessive eating!  You would think with all this running, I would lose a little bit of weight, however, that can't happen if I'm eating everything in my sight afterwards!  I've been struggling with the whole weight loss thing again.  I still have about twenty pounds to lose, but I just can't seem to stick to tracking my food intake, yada, yada.  I know dropping a bit of weight would only help with the running, so I don't know what my deal is.  This week I promised myself I would write down everything I eat and try not to make silly decisions (like right now, I am desperately trying to not eat a candy bar!) that I know lead to eating poorly or too much.  I just need to find some balance, which is really hard for a foodie! 

So, Tim had to run 18 miles on Saturday.  He even met up with us the lake to do some of the miles with us.  That boy is inspiring!  I am so proud of him!  I can't wait to cheer him on as he crosses the finish line at 26.2 miles! 

Quote of the week:
"You're gonna have to face that you're a runner."
Timothy Johnson, Future Marathoner & the Best Husband in the World

Just keep running, running, running...

Week 8

Total Miles:  20.20 miles

Long Run:  8 miles

In the month of July, I ran 80.17 miles.  The fat girl from a few years ago that hated running is floored by this number.  Seriously, I did that?  I ran that much in one month?  Heck yeah, I did! 

This past week was a bit of a roller coaster for me.  For the most part, I was fine and dandy with getting up at 5 am to run my miles.  Morning running is getting easier for me and I think I even enjoy it a bit.  It's nice to get up and run when the world is still quiet and there isn't too much to going on.  Tim has been running with me and as most everyone knows, he's not much of a talker.  Morning running makes him even less inclined to speak, so most of the time, it's just me saying something from time to time-- typically I am complaining about how long the miles are feeling or how hot it is, etc.  He is quite the sport to tolerate my crankiness so early in the day.  On the short run day, I picked it up a bit and attempted some interval type training.  It was nice to finish somewhat close to my PR 5k time because I do feel that if I ran a 5k now, I would be seriously slow.  I am fairly consistent with my morning runs;  first mile is pretty slow (I'm still waking up after all!) and then I continue to have negative splits for the following miles. 

So, for whatever reason, the night before our long run, I was nervous.  Nervous isn't really the right word.  It's hard to explain.  I was just doubting myself.  It's silly because I had already ran 8 miles earlier in the summer, but for some reason, I had a mental block about it.  I didn't really sleep well and I was just dreading it.  We started running, and I kept looking at my watch to try to stay around a 11:40 pace because I was so sure that I would freakin' pass out if I tried to run any faster.  Jaime noticed I was quiet, and I suppose for the first few miles I was because I was just so full of self doubt.  I was a few feet behind Leah and Jaime and I was looking at them thinking about how they really looked like runners and I was the chubby girl just trying to keep up.  I know this kind of thinking is silly, but I'm just being honest.  I am unsure of myself sometimes.   At one point, I looked over at Tim and he just smiled at me.  The crazy boy had already ran 8 miles before meeting up with us, and he was smiling?  After that, I just decided to stop thinking about it and just run.  Heck, if he could run 16 miles with a grin, I could do 8, right?

I tell myself I'm not very competitive.  However, I think this weekend I realized that I am competing against myself when I let all the doubt take over.  I am the queen of psyching myself out.  I would like to say that I won't have a day like this again anytime soon, but that is unlikely.  Heck, we plan on running the lake next week and I so have a mental block when it comes to hills!  I just need to find a way to gag the voice in my head that tells me that I can't do it.  That I am still too fat to run or that I should just stop.  I can do this.  I AM doing this.  Maybe I need to be like Stuart Smallay (from SNL) and do a mantra in the mirror:  I am a runner, I am fast enough, and doggone it, it's okay if people pass me!   hehe

Quote of the Week: 

"Have you seen Finding Nemo?  I tell myself to be like Dory and to just keep running, running, running..."
Jaime Huppert, future Half Marathoner