17 miles!

I tried very hard to get myself back on track this last week. If you recall, the week prior was a disaster with back to school, back to early wake ups, crazy work stuff, kids back to school and their homework.

So on Saturday, I headed into the city for the New York Road Runner's 5th Avenue Mile. I have never run this before. Last year, I volunteered at this event though. Truth be told, I have NEVER run a single mile - nor have I run a mile fast. I headed to this race with a bit of anxiety. Normally, the first mile of my runs are horrible so what in the world would a single mile race be like??
This race is set up in age and gender categories. I'm placed in the female 30-39 group - the majority of the woman around me look like they are going to be FAST. Holy crap. In the corral, I'm standing behind a woman who has a normal body with meat on her bones and a cute top on - I predict she is going to run at a speed I can handle so I will keep her in my sights. Gun goes off! I'm like 1/8 of the way and I glance at my watch. UMMM....7:04. No - dangerous. For starters, I'm way too clumsy to handle this pace. Yet it does explain why my lungs are on fire. 1/4 mile sign and I want to quit. I'm not fast so why am I trying this race? But really, how embarrassing would it be to quit a one mile race when I have 26.2 in like 40 days. 1/2 mile sign - ok, I've slowed down a little but I'm still going fast. Normal girl is directly in front of me - she also went out too fast, realized it, and slowed. 3/4 mile mark - I can see the finish line! Just keep going....and then BYE BYE normal girl...I blow by her and spring the rest of the course to cross the finish line!! YEAH! Super happy. 9 minutes 14 seconds. NEVER in my whole life have I run this fast...not even in high school for the timed mile - considering I never actually participated in that and just walked a lap then lied :)

Sunday morning, bright and early, my mom and I head to our favorite long run spot. We park in Loch Arbor, make our way over to the Asbury Park boardwalk and there we go. Gorgeous day with plenty of people to look at, plenty of houses to assess, waves were solid, wind was crazy. We did pretty good! Definitely stronger than last year which is a good feeling. We took more walk breaks the 2nd half but that's ok - we got that shit done.

Personal Record!!!!

Yeah me!!

After a week of stress, poor sleep, not able to get all workouts in, and less than stellar diet - I somehow turned that all around and ended on a high note!

The beginning of the school year is rough. Last year and the year before during the first few weeks back to school were the worst training weeks out of them all. It came as no surprise that this year would also be rough. It's still a disappointment though.

Saturday morning was the Fitness Mind, Body Spirit 4 mile race in Central Park. It also happened to be a a nice break from a required long run. Turned out to be a gorgeous chilly morning. Since I'm not a strong runner, I don't actually "race" at a race. I start it and finish it. Yet this time, within the first two minutes of crossing the start line I picked a time goal. My legs were feeling fresh and my breathing was really easy. My goal was 45 minutes. For many - that's too long for a 4 miler but for slow ass me that's a good time goal. This would require very little walk breaks and maintaining a faster pace. I ran solid - under 11 min/mile for the 1st mile, walked through the water stop and then back to running. I did this the entire race only walking through water stations and part way up one killer hill (Central Park is a killer with the damn hills)...I also walked for a few seconds out of confusion. As I was coming up to what I thought should be a left turn and into the home stretch with the finish line in sight (this is based on previous races) - I all of a sudden realized that the course was not making a left but going straight. I got totally confused and started walking trying to figure it all out. It wasn't until I could hear (but not see) the finish line announcements that I started to run - then sprint trying to make my goal. In the end, I got very close to my goal - 45:48.

This is huge for me. It's proof that all the hard work I have been putting in is finally paying off. It also lets me know that with speed sessions, more running and less walking breaks and more running confidence, I can seriously improve my time. Maybe not in time for Nov. 4th - but it's something I will definitely put into motion after.

Until next week (assuming I survive the first 18 miler of the season!)

Longest week

Last week was back to school week which means life got crazy again. This week is always rough in terms of training-it just loses its top priority spot for the week. I did the best I could but I wasn't able to hit everything on my training calendar.

Saturday night I headed to Point Pleasant to celebrate Michelle's birthday. I really needed this outing-some beers, salt air, good people, lots of laughs, mental health time, late night tears, and a middle of the night beach walk. Somehow my tired, old ass stayed up until 4:30am. Ummmm-that's a problem because early Sunday morning was a scheduled long run. I fell asleep in two seconds and then the alarm went off.

Got myself home by 8am and took to the streets around 8:30am. 11.5 miles completed very, very slowly. I don't know how I even managed that. Technically today was supposed to be 16 miles but with a week of not the best training, I'm ok with cutting off a couple of miles.

This coming week is also going to be hectic-after school meeting two days and kids soccer two days. Again, I will do my best.

As always, thank you for the support-it keeps me going.

9 weeks to go!

Starting tomorrow there are 9 more weeks to go until the marathon! Sounds like plenty of time but in reality it's not much at all.
I'm proud of how far I've come since last year. I'm still slow as all hell but I'm so much stronger. I'm also smaller! As of today, I'm 23 pounds smaller than last year's marathon.

So for the next 9 weeks I'm going to do this blog a bit differently. I'm going to continue to post weekly after my weekend long run. I'll give a brief review of the week's training. So here goes:

Monday: 3 miles and ChaLEAN Extreme (CLX) Fat Blaster
Tuesday: CLX Recharge (light yoga/stretching) and I've Got Abs
Wednesday: 4.8 miles, CLX Burn #3 and Ab Burner
Thursday: 4.8 Miles, CLX Burn Intervals
Friday: CLX Burn #2 & CLX Burn it Off (major sciatic nerve flare up - as in saw white for a second as the pain radiated through my body. Not good.)
Saturday: 3 mile walk, CLX Recharge, and Ab Burner
Sunday: 14 miles - really painful back pain and some tummy troubles.

Back to work Tuesday. Looks like I'll be waking up around 4:45am to do strength or cross training. My runs will take place after school when I get home around 5pm. Extended day sucks. I'm going to need an IV drip of caffeine.

That's all for now. Thanks to those of you who continue to support me in some way - it doesn't go unnoticed and it's much appreciated.

Getting it done

12 miles done today. 25 miles done for the week PLUS ChaLEAN Extreme.
I am getting the miles in has not been hard to do thanks to summer vacation. I worry about what will happen when school starts back up soon. I have a feeling there will be a ton of coffee added to my days.

I am going into this last 10 weeks of training stronger than I was for the last two marathons. I'm strength training, cross training, stretching, properly fueling - you name, I'm doing it. I know I am stronger and that's awesome...I wish stronger also meant a tad faster too though.

I've been very angry. Angry with tumors, angry with chemo (happy it's there though too), angry at people who are assholes, angry at myself for sometimes not being able to put things in perspective, and I guess just angry at the world. But I think of Rage Against the Machine reminding me that "anger is a gift" - it is. It pushes me. Without it, I would probably be curled up in a dark corner by now.

I read an interesting statistic the other day. It was about how many times a person lies in  a day, a week, a month, a year. And that the most common lie is to say, "I'm fine." Yes, how true that is. Why? Because very few people REALLY want to know the truth. Most people are either just being socially polite or just want to stay sheltered from anything that can be taken as bad.

I have more on my shoulders than most people do. Do you want to know the shit that goes through my head? No - you want me to just say, "I'm fine." So I lie to you. Right now, having to lie makes me angry but as I said already, anger motivates me. So I guess I should be thanking you for not REALLY wanting to know which puts me in a position to lie.

Don't get me wrong - most days I really am fine, most days I know that no matter what I will be fine.
And some days I know that I will always "Hold my head high but my middle finger higher."

Ugh.

As I sit here typing this, I'm trying to figure out a way to NOT have my negative feelings from today's run take over my entire week of training. I will do my best.
I have been working so hard. My entire body right now is just fatigued. It's not helping that I haven't been sleeping great and that I have woken up the last few days with serious sinus pressure.

During the week I spent my time doing about 4 mile runs (I've been playing around with my walk break intervals), Turbo Jam, and Turbo Sculpt. I've also been doing way more core work in order to avoid the lower back fatique as the training runs get longer.

My nutrition has been spot on. I'm logging every single thing - including GU, my coffee, whatever. I'm making much better choices yet I also refuse to totally deny myself what I love (ie: coconut ice cream).

For whatever reason I was feeling anxiety about today's long run. Probably turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy in a sense. A 10 miler is long but it's not a distance I'm unfamiliar with. Somehow though, I still didn't sleep - I tossed & turned and thought about it. I want to be able to just go out there and RUN. I'm so damn sick of walk breaks and feeling like a wuss. I don't get why in my 3rd marathon training season I'm STILL going the same pace and I'm still dependent on walk breaks. WTF?

I dreaded going out but skipping a long run is just not an option. I just was so beat down. My water bottles felt heavy, my legs didn't want to move, sweat was dripping in my eyes & temporarily blinding me. I wanted to just go home. I walked more than I ran which just really pissed me off. Right now, I'm just so annoyed.

I will go easy on myself the next two days. I will spend some time swimming and stretching...and maybe a brisk walk. I will get back in the running groove on Tuesday.

July Wrap-Up

Since my last post, I have put in lots and lots of miles. I've been fairly consistent with my scheduled runs and I've been doing my best to incorporate cross-training and strength. I've been sticking with Turbo Jam - sometimes Cardio Party, sometimes Turbo Sculpt. Every once in a while I through in a Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred - I feel like it shocks my muscles and wakes up those that have been on autopilot.

As for my sneakers, my wallet took a hit when I opted to take the next step in the world of Newtons. Worth every penny! My piriformis, my hamstring, my knee, - you name it- are ALL happier. Which makes me happier. Cause & Effect :)

I haven't had a chance to go back into this blog and look at previous July posts but I'm confident that I said something about the heat. I have NEVER felt so hot and drained as I did on last Saturday's 12 mile long run in Florida. Obviously, on run days I made a point to get out early when it's cooler and my mom & I went the route that provided the most shade. On 3-4 mile runs, not a problem. The first Saturday we were down there, our long run was a 9 miler. HOT. We went over the bridge that was just blazing sun - the entire time I was thinking, "Holy shit, how are we going to do the 12 miler??" Throughout the week, I tried to keep my muscles primed with swimming, stretching and some water jogging/squats. I ate more than needed and I had a beverage here & there but I kept my hydration solid.
Saturday's 12 miler was a KILLER. Hot doesn't even describe it. Legs were like lead, head was foggy. There was a slow, limping walk to wrap up the mileage but it.got.done. That's what matters.

Now we are home and the training is about to seriously ramp up. I'm excited, a bit anxious, and ready for it. I'm stronger this year. I'm eating better this year.
I'm still slow - maybe I always will be. But I can go the distance. And I will.