First Half Marathon in the Works

So on October third I will be running the Smuttynose Half Marathon in NH. I'll be running with a group of friends and I am excited and nervous. We did our 7 mile run today which was good, yet painful. It was very hot today and I'm still feeling it, more from the heat than from the run. At least it isn't humid, I'd probably be passed out. I still have a lingering headache and am very excited to go to bed tonight. It was good though. We've started using Jeff Galloway's run/walk technique. I'm not the type of runner who can just step out, run three miles straight and feel good. The run walk system helped tremendously today. I felt better at the end of today's 7 than one mile into our six mile run two weeks ago.

So to summarize. Half marathon ahead! Run+walk=happy me.

Stair Climb

So today I had a departure from running. I participated in a stair climb to benefit the American Lung Association. Holy Mother of Pearl, that was HARD. I sorely underestimated the difficulty of climbing 58 flights of stairs. But it was very much worth it. My good friend and I , who will soon be the star of a post here, went through many incarnations of game plans. We'll run a few then walk a few, we'll walk, then run then walk, we'l walk, then do by two, then run...but we'll definitely run at some point. Ummmm, no that never happened.

I started a little strong with a steady pace taking two steps at a time. By the time I hit floor 3, I was down to one step at a time. By floor 8 my chest felt like it was on fire. I rested at some point for a few seconds and I finished standing. I did not vomit, though that felt like a possibility and I can still feel the pain in my chest. It was all of ten minutes, if that. It was more challenging than anything I've done so far. It was more painful by far and very rewarding. I think it's the once event that puts you in touch with the people you are raising awareness for. Yes my lungs were burning, but it was for a short time, I'll be able to run tomorrow if I want. But people with lung disease, people with full on asthma? They end up in the hospital for breathing treatments. Or on oxygen on a daily basis. I am grateful that I was able to climb up those flights of stairs this morning, and grateful that I can breathe easy now.

Climb of your life

If you get a chance to do a stair climb, do it! It's not a marathon, but it's a whole new challenge.

A New and Interesting Challenge

So I signed up for a new type of race. On February 27th I will be climbing 56 flights of stairs to raise money for the American Lung Association. I'm excited, it's very different than running a race and it may get me psyched to try a half marathon which would be very different from the stairs.

I have a new post coming soon about my marathon relay last October. It's about a Nor'Easter, a relay adventure in Newport, good friends, and a girl who inadvertently runs a half marathon with no training at all.

Look for it, it's a doozy.

So it's been a long time since my last post. That's ok, today's is going to be short, and until I can work out my kids back in school, working more and trying to keep up with the house, things are going to be far and few between. Life just gets busy

So since my last post I have done a six mile long run, and run the CVS 5k in PRovidence. That was a great race, very flat course and my running buddy stayed with me for the whole run, it was fun. I turned my ankle a bit in a pot hole and am just starting to feel better from that. The extended runs irritated my IT band, which has been annoying. TKD has been great cross training, my IT issues always feel less so after a class, so that's good.

I received some hand me overs from a good friend yesterday which has inspired me to be more conscious of what I am eating so I can better fit into the new clothes. My husband recently lost 18 pounds by dropping soda and running more. Totally not fair at all if you ask me. But I think I am ready to put the work into it. I just need to do it.

Butterfly 5K

Today was the Butterfly 5K. The forecast called for cloudy with showers. It was a beautiful sunny day which made the run brutal. It was hot, really hot. And although it is billed as a net downhill race, it sure as hell didn't feel like a net downhill. Lots of walking was needed to get through it, but I started running and finished running and listened to my body and all is well. There was a lot for the kids to do and they had kids races after the main race, so although I added 4 minutes to my last 5k time, it was a successful day.

Enjoying a banana while the kids get ready to race

Go Kevin!!!

Go Brian!!!

Partners in Crime

Yay! It's over!

Next Race and Other Thoughts

I am taking tomorrow and Saturday off, and running a 5k on Sunday. Yesterday we did some fun speed work at the track, yes I said fun, and today I did a run walk with the newest member of our running group who is working on the couch to 5k program. That was a nice change of pace, I have to say. Very chatty group this morning and it was nice to feel like I was going to make it through that run without question. I do have to say that the running is feeling good. It has been pretty hot and humid, so it's been difficult, but I feel good after the runs. TKD has been ramping up the challenges which is good too. Though I was almost in tears from the across the floor wheelbarrow pushups last night. Not pleased with my work on those.

I am finally starting to take my eating seriously. It is going to take a while to have it all make sense and for me to stop craving the crap I so love. I went through yesterday with no refined carbs, such as crackers or bread or anything like that. That is HUGE for me since I have often gone for entire weeks with no fruits or vegetables. I tried Amazing Super Meal in my smoothie this morning, and it wasn't bad. I was educated on the evils of creamer by JRTRUNR, so I think that the cup of coffee in front of me, may just be the last with creamer. Maybe I can just get rid of it altogether. I've cut out the caffeine already, it's just for the taste of it now. So what's the point? I've cut out soda. Now it's juts the rest of the crap that I always feel so entitled to. I am taking my boys to the movies tomorrow. Do I get popcorn? Maybe I just need to buckle down and say no. We also are having my nephew's birthday party. I'm going to try to make side salads from vegetables more than pasta and have fruit and veggies out in addition to the crap everyone else wants. In another thought, has anyone tried coconut water?

I see a lot of people posting everything they eat in their blogs. I'm not thinking that that is what I want to do here, but if it helps, I may end up doing it just to keep myself honest

Oh and in a I can't believe how crazy my kids are side note: the first Christmas list of 2009 is officially sitting by the fireplace. Lord help me.

Four!

Today had a few firsts for me.

I ran alone for the first time today,

I ran four miles in a training run for the first time,

I ran without music (which, ok, I've done that before, but not alone, so that's a first of sorts).

I walked in the two hills in the run, in miles two and three, and I am ok with that. I ran very slow ( I actually have no idea how long it took me), and I am ok with that. I felt like I may pass out when I got home, and I was kind of ok with that. I took a cold shower that didn't take, I know that because I was sweating well after I dried off, that annoyed me but made me laugh at how gross it was. I discovered that I can do anything with gum. Without gum I feel like my mouth is full of sandpaper, which is awfully distracting. So I make sure I have some gum. I learned today that anything more than four miles is going to need a replacement piece of gum. I learned that I can say some nice encouraging things to myself when I am running, I can also be pretty awful, it depends on how the run is going.

I don't time myself, I don't pace myself. I map a run, do my best, slow down as much as I need and aim to at least start and finish the run, running. If I have to walk a little, I'm ok with that. Who am I chasing? Who am I competing with? Myself. And the myself of a year ago couldn't even think about what I did today. I did something today that a year ago I would have laughed at the mere thought of doing. So I'm good. I had a great run today. I have a race next Sunday and I will not be crazy about it, I will start it running, I will finish it running and what happens in between will be fine.