About my marathon training

Last week I ran my first 20 miles…ever.
I remember being nervous for it, and really hoping to be able to run the whole thing.  I can't figure out why running the whole thing is so important.  I have deduced it to two reasons.
1. I must think I am some sort of bad mama jama to be able to say I did it, which earns me nothing.  No special prize, no money, and certainly not the right to say I am the only one.
2. I can get it done faster, and it's easier than stopping and starting up again.

Neither of course are true, but number 2 you can train in a way that walk/run/walking will not only work, but will be the same speed and less stress on the joints.  Number 1, well that's just the craziness.

This week on the schedule was 12 miles today and I was up against a 4 am wake up, and a 8 - 9 am client, which meant I wasn't able to start my run until after 9:30, the temp was supposed to get up there too.  Considering that it takes 2 hours to run this thaaaang, I knew I would be running into some heat.

Things I have discovered.
When I first began training for races (mostly half marathons) I would be so careful to eat my gels every hour on the hour.  I would eat 3 of them each time.  I carried water with me and was sure to sip at least every mile.
Since training for anywhere from 1-2 hours on a midweek run, I have come to really dislike the eating during the run portion.  And don't even try to sell me on the GU (liquid snot)
I try to cut my water consumption off at least 1.5 hours before I am going to run, but before that time I try to get well hydrated with 16-32 ounces of water, then take that 1.5 hours to pee it out.  As for eating, I usually shove something in my mouth right before I start just to get rid of the hunger pang.
When I go for my run I fill up my water bag and try to sip every 1 to 1.5 miles.  Toward the end I get very thirsty, especially if it is hot, or if it's a run over 10 miles.  I drink so much and sweat so much out that I need to take electrolyte capsules, about 1 every hour, then one when I get home because I know I will be guzzling the water.

My route:
It doesn't vary much.  The place where I run most has lots of small and some big rolling hills.  I try like heck to avoid the big ones so I am never more than 2.5 to 3 miles away from home.  I do not, necessarily, run in circles either.  I have several out and backs in my course.  That's fancy runner talk for; running from point A to point B, then back to point A.  Sounds like fun doesn't it?

What to eat after a run?
I usually feel like I worked so hard that I shouldn't go off the deep end with my food after a long run.  Like today, I ate lots of red lettuce with about 1 tbsp of OPA ranch (only because that was all there was!), 1 Field roast Chipoltle dog cut up, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, 2 TBSP hemp hearts (theres that protein everyone's worried about) and raisins.  I know I added a lot of calories to my meal, but I also added ALOT of nutrients.  I am not gonna lie…after my 20 miler last week, it was straight pizza night.

So, tonight I have a well deserved rest coming to me, and possibly some chocolate :)
Thank you for reading.

An emotional week

And it's only Wednesday.  I don't exactly have the time to be blogging right now so I will make this short.

  Algebra sucks.

Yesterday in class I had to turn off my camera because I couldn't grasp the concept and got lost right from the beginning.  The farther he went into the lesson, the more overwhelmed I became, which led to lots and lots of tears, and every time I raised my hand to ask a question, and he called on me, I choked up.  YEP in front of the whole class.  Embarrassment wasn't my biggest issue at this point.  All I could think about was how I missed the assignment, and quiz, and now I can't even think about grasping week 2's lesson, and there is no way I am going to pass this course...cue more tears.

    Now that I am crying uncontrollably and there is no possible way I can obtain any information, I want to end the session, i.e.; give up.  But I can't because if I do that, then I will lose precious class points.  So there must be a glimmer of hope in there somewhere so I keep listening.  Then I am getting worked up because I am so far behind I cannot possibly understand at this point.  I see all my other classmates get the concept, and feel even more like algebra is my enemy, and my brain simply cannot, will not compute...like there is truly a misfire there.

  Eventually I get the nerve to raise my hand again.  The words won't come, no voice without tears GRRR.  (This is like, but not worse than when the Admiral came to our ship and they chose me to take his dinner order because I was best suited for the job and I froze!  I'll leave it up to you to guess if there were tears in that situation. ) The instructor realizes I am having another moment and begins to move on, but WAIT!  The words come!  Halleleua I am able to ask a question!!  He realizes how far back I got lost and works with me through the break.  The reason I did not stop him in the beginning was that he stressed wanting to get through the first part quickly so we could spend more time on the word problems.  So he cleared up some of it for me, and I was able to move on...somewhat.

  I joined a tutoring session after class and got a little more help, then tried to do it totally on my own later and was lost.  Hmmm.

My house is a disaster.
I am doing horrible at algebra
The laundry is folded and in baskets
I need to know the workings of the heart and cardio respiratory system by the end of the week
The weight of my life is on me

I pray
I run
I feel better.

This has been a very emotional week.  I cannot let my emotions take control.  I am casting my eyes on things above, things not of this world.  I will get through this somehow.

As I am sitting here waiting for Apache OpenOffice.org to download since it seemingly crashed and this is a second install, I am thinking about the fact that it didn't crash until I was in a position to fix it.  A curious thought for sure.  I am going to say this is part of God helping me succeed.  I think if Oo.o (Openoffice.org) would have  crashed right before I wanted to take my final exam, I probably wouldn't be in any position to blog right now due to hyperventilation.

  What have I been up to?

I have been taking it easy so to speak since my half marathon.  I have been trying to watch my diet since I haven't been getting as much exercise in.  Reason being that this was the end of a 5 week module.  I am still not clear on what that all means, but all the classes I take are in 5 week chunks.  The last week is the most crazy because instructors want assignments in early because they have to have grades by the end of the week.


Next week starts the craziest next 14 months of my life (I thought the last 5 weeks were something!). I am going into Anatomy and Physiology, and Algebra.  For those of you who know me, I hope you have dropped everything  and went directly to prayer.  All jokes aside, I do need prayer for this one as I struggle to learn, and when I have to focus on more than just learning, my struggle can become overwhelming, intimidating and stressful.  I just need to remain calm and peaceful.

I haven't run since the half on Sunday (today is Friday) because I wanted to give myself a break from running.  I have gone up the last two nights and done weight training and stair steps.  I do plan to run, but not as long of distances until maybe spring or summer...unless I can't wait that long :).

The half marathon went well.  I originally signed up for it because I did not want my exercising to lapse while I was busy being a student.  Things got pretty intense trying to incorporate running with school.  It seemed everything was spilling into what little family time I already had :(.  I was so excited to get to run with my new friend Christina.  She and I have such a similar running start story, and we go at the same pace.  About 2 weeks before the race her foot was giving her real trouble.  She called me to give me a heads up about it.  I told her to not feel guilty if she had to drop out because I originally signed up for the race by myself, then I told her with that being said, I really want to be able to run this with you.  When we first met we were both nervous about trying to run with anyone because we had both done our training alone.  After a few months of running and a half marathon under our belt we felt confident enough that we could run together and truly enjoy it.

 She called me 2 days before the race and regretfully informed me that she would not be able to run :(.  This made me sad, for Christina, and for myself.  I didn't want to be selfish, but I couldn't help feeling that way.  When I got to the race Christina was there for support!  She was sad she couldn't be a part of it...I could tell.  I was sad but was trying to act like I wasn't so she wouldn't have one more thing to feel bad about.  Never kick a person when they are down.

  Before I seen Christina I went over to the start sign to take my picture in front of it, there were groups of women taking photos of each other, a couple of them asked me to take their picture.  I didn't mind, but was really wishing I had someone to take a picture with.  See, as much as a runner enjoys a good race, and may spend the majority of the race not talking, if you have no one there to be with her...it can be a lonely very big place.  I asked this lady to take my picture and she did.

This is about an hour before the race

I had everything I needed to start, I had my lucky socks, my lanyard Emily bought and I wore on my first half, and my water bag.  I will have you know that a long sleeve shirt was not an appropriate choice for this race.  It was very humid and got rather warm during the race.  I will say though that the weather was perfect for running conditions.

Some Uh Oh! moments:

When I had turned in my bag, and was strapping everything on, I realized I didn't have my arm band for my phone, NOR did I have my heart rate monitor that I was so curious about wearing.  I went back to the bag check, and got my HRM, but my arm band was no where to be seen.  I was rather dismayed.  Then I heard the lady yelling to me, she took the time to look around the area and seen that I had dropped it by the bench!  The volunteers at this race were so kind!

What I remember about the race:
Here is a view of the Columbia as I was running by, also we passed under the I-5 Washington/Oregon Bridge which was pretty cool.  There is a route around Portland where one can run the bridges, I would like to do that one day...when I get over my fear of Portland. 

 
This is the view of the river

I met these really cool people from "Team Joleen", apparently Joleen was a big inspiration for this race. (They said I could be on their team :))

I remember running through Fort Vancouver, and near Pearson Air Field.  There are some pretty sweet things to look at, and the fall scenery was incredible!  I was in a lot of pain to fully enjoy it though.  All I could do was look for the finish line...not what I wanted to be thinking/doing.

I remember running past the Fred Meyers that can be seen off Hwy 14 just before it hits I-5 and knowing I only had a couple more miles to go, wondering how I was going to make it.  Then getting behind these three very fit looking ladies, who seemed to run with such ease...they were pissing me off.

I remember running up this demanding hill and raising my hands in victory when I conquered it (hoping I didn't look like a jerk) It was a moment for really only me to see.  I do that a lot when I am running alone. don't judge.

I was trying to capture the look and the feeling (moment) of what it feels like to be in the midst of a half Marathon...I want to say this is a little more than half way.

I remember seeing sweat soaked bodies, and one lady having removable arm sleeves, thinking to myself how those would have been removed ages ago if I were wearing them!  And wishing I wouldn't be too embarrassed to run in my sports bra...but even if I wasn't, there were a lot of little kids on that route...wouldn't want to scare anyone ;)

I remember seeing the finish line and just going all out sprint to get the best possible time, and then seeing the man I love the most at the finish, just like he said he would be <3.

I remember putting my foot up to take off my timing chip and having to lean on the lady helping me so I wouldn't fall from exhaustion.

I remember the paramedic asking me if I was okay when I went to get up from the curb.

I remember the tough times, and I remember the feeling of accomplishment.

Thank you guys for reading my race recap, and life story.  Hopefully the next time I talk to you, I will know a little something about Anatomy and Physiology...and Algebra!!!

Assignment, offense, and running talk

  An assignment leads to an offense...

  I am going to start off with the thing that is bothering me most.  We had an assignment to observe a group fitness class.  I went to the gym and observed a circuit training class.  I told the instructor why I was there and what I was doing.  She was so kind, and told me she would like for me to take her class. I explained that I was not taking it that day because I had an 11 mile run the next day, and really needed my rest.  She cringed when I said 11 mile run, and looked repulsed at the thought (that should have been my first clue) but I just brushed it off as I realize a lot of people cringe at the thought of running that distance, heck even I used to.  I don't cringe anymore, but I will tell you it takes a certain amount of discipline and "psyching up" to get myself through it.  I sat and observed the class, then went on my merry way to do the rest of my reading and studying for school.

  While I was writing my paper from the observance it had occurred to me that I never asked what her certification was, and I knew that if I didn't include that information my paper would be incomplete.  I went back to the gym several hours later and none of the people from the morning were there.  I found the instructors business card labeled "Personal Trainer".  When I called her to ask about her certification, we were talking, and she was wanting me to take her class, and I informed her that once this half marathon was over I was going to back off of the running a bit so I could concentrate on strength and such and that I would love to take her class.  Then she says to me "you know...running makes your butt small"  I say, "well, I have had a big butt for all my life" and before I could get anymore words out she interrupts and says, "No, I mean flat, a flat butt that has no form."

  Now I know no woman wants a flat but, I get that, but I am of the firm belief that my backside is not now, nor has EVER been in danger of going "flat".   I am not so much upset about the fact that she told me my body was going to change in an undesirable way from running as I am that a "Personal Trainer" would condemn a healthy habit that I have worked so hard to establish.  She is supposed to be encouraging cardiovascular exercise, and human movement in general!  I will not hold a grudge and I especially know that being offended is a sin(1).  WHAT?? you say?  BELIEVE IT.  Why?  Because when we are offended we often get tripped up, and led to anger, resentment, and hate (that's sinning). I don't want to sin because I want to please God, and live my life as a light.  Rather than going through all that, I will just let it go, and know my boundaries with this woman.  I will also chose to focus on her positive attitude and good qualities.  I am almost certain that when she hung up the phone she soon realized the blunder she had made.

  An 11 mile run...


  Did  you know that it is only okay to type a numerical character if the number is 10 or higher?  How cool is it that I have run so far that I can use numerical characters?  ha ha, I am just full of information.  Oh just wait, now that I am fully enveloped in studying, cramming all sorts of information into my brain, I will probably be sighting more little known facts...bear with me :).

  Saturday morning (yesterday) while I was preparing for my run, my Haley asked me how far I was running, and I told her, then she said "But won't you run out of breath?".  I explained to her that I have learned to control my breathing, and that my body was conditioned to do this type of thing.  But friends, that little question she asked carried me through my run.  When my hips and back began to ache, and when I began to question my own endurance, and wondered where my energy had gone, I remembered that I was conditioned, and out of the depths of my imagination. "The body is stronger than the mind"(2),  there was a place that I could find the energy, the endurance.  I believe God gives me strength, and I also believe he gives me little nuggets of encouragement to reflect on for those moments of doubt.

More of my take on running in general

  When running long distances I really want to find the flattest run possible.  Sorry folks, I like to run, I never said I was into self torture.  You have read in the past of my dealings with hills, and if you haven't it won't take long to fill you in...I have tried them, I run them when I have to, and avoid them when I can.  Avoiding hills feels a slightly like sneaking a candy bar into the middle of a salad though.  I have been hearing about the dangers of running on cement.  Most of the time I don't run on cement as I run the roads around my house.
 
The pros of running by my house...I am out in the country so there are no lights.  I don't have to deal with lots of cars and their exhaust.

The cons...hills, and the danger of being alone while running.

 Which reminds me...I need to get hand held pepper spray.  While I was on my last 3 mile run I passed by a man on the other side of the road.  Of course every story I have ever heard about runners being taken over flashes through my head, and as I size this man up, a terrifying thought hits me "I couldn't take this guy if I needed to."  It is very unfortunate and angering to think that  just because I am weaker that it would be "okay" to do with me as you please.  I guess in a way it's like leaving a million dollars in your car and not bothering to lock the doors, so I guess I will be locking my doors with pepper spray.  These are real thoughts and fears I face when going out alone.

  Rest day...

So today I will enjoy a rest, take the kids to a birthday party, and then begin it all over again next week.  My Half Marathon is on October 14th.  I am supposed to run 12 miles next saturday.  I am still debating on weather I want to run that long the week before the Half.  I don't want to be burnt out and dread the Half.


  Forgive me...

for the long blog post, but it has been so long since I have written a quality post, and who knows how long it will be before I can write another...if this even is one ha ha.

I learned that if I am going to quote people, or insert things I have learned, I need to site where I got the info...so here it is. Numbers are behind the quote or reference in the paragraphs above.

1. Strongs Concordance: Offend. Greek 4624: To entrap. i.e. trip up (figuratively, stumble (transitively) or entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure):--(make to) offend.

2. Chris Powell on Extreme Makeover Weight loss edition.
  

Goings on

Okay, the last time I tried to blog when I was this burnt out was a mess.  But I have found a scrap of time, and darn it, I am going to use it.  I figured I would take you though a new typical week with me.

  Sunday: Church/family time
  Monday: Drop kids at school, come home and study, and attend a 2 hour live class
  Tuesday: Drop kids RUN 3 miles, head home (unless there is an urgent need for some type of grocery, then I will grab it) Study work on assignments
  Wednesday: Drop kids early RUN 5 miles, hurry home, attend 2 hour class then study and work on assignments
  Thursday: Drop kids, run 3 miles, hurry home, study, work on assignments
  Friday: I haven't totally figured Friday out, but the hope is that I will have my assignments completed and will be able to run errands, and help with my kids school related activities.
  Saturday, tie up any lose ends, and family time.

  That is a rough draft week, didn't want to bore you with too many details.  I have always appreciated the value of time, but now I do even more, because when I go get the kids then come home, tidy up the house, make dinner, and spend some minutes with my husband, I am eager to see if there is just one more thing I can do, but by then I am pretty spent.

  RUNNING:
My running has been going surprisingly well, especially for how tired I have been feeling.  I also have been trying different courses, which has really made a difference in my motivation to get out there.   As I may have mentioned in the past I want to specialize in weight loss.  I also want to specialize in encouraging children and youth to be fit and give them fun ways to move their bodies.  The great news is that I can!  There are specialty certifications I will be able to take to help me toward that goal.

  Saturday is an 11 mile run.  I have already mapped out a course as that will be the longest distance I have ever run while training.  My last Half marathon I ran only 10 miles for my longest run before the race.

  Well that is all I can squeeze in for now.  There really is so much more to say, I want to return to my usual musings about the things I see and find, and how I feel, but that will have to wait till a later date.  Thanks for reading, and take care my friends...I miss you.

An intro to my first few courses, and run talk

  I just want to say that this self improvement stuff is not easy!

  This was my thought as I was on my 5 mile run yesterday.  Lately I have been having trouble getting into the groove of running.  I think the reason I am having such a hard time is because of the new schedule.  In the summer I could get my run in the early morning hours, but now it isn't feasible with the girls having to be to school so early.

  What is feasible about that is that my online live class gives me plenty of time to get home after I drop the girls off.  This means NO before care.  Oh how you wouldn't believe the resistance I sometimes get to this.  I can't exactly blame them though...I made them this way.  I was always first to pick them up from any situation, it started with Sunday school.

  I have sort of concocted a plan in my head.  Each of the courses are 5 weeks, and I have three courses this 5 week term.  Fit-100 with a teacher that promises to deliver a great learning style!  The name of the course speaks for itself, it will be the introduction to the main reason I have begun this journey.  Tech-102 this course is assembled around OpenOffice.org.  We will have to learn in my opinion extensively, how to use 3 aspects of this program.  I am thrilled that I will be learning word processing, but at the same time am nervouse because some of the language can be dry.  There are on Tuesday evenings "academic assistance" sessions that you can bet I will be logging onto!  Last but certainly not least is Enlish-111, this is a course that promises to teach me how to use my adult skills such as prioritizing, collaborating, and breaking up big tasks into smaller more manageable tasks, among other things.  The plan I have made up is to drop the kids off at school, then go over to the gym, get my run in by treadmill, or around my gym area.  There is actually a nice foot path that I have talked about in he past, but it goes a long a busy highway where there is a lot of exhaust so I don't like to do that too often.  Then after my scheduled work out I will either go home, or change clothes and head for the library.  I have this idea that being at the library for my non live teaching days would give me a responsiblitiy free place to study, and will keep away the monotany...plus it will feel like I am "going" to college :)


My long run days are on Saturdays so they won't conflict with school, and after my half marathon my running schedule won't be so stringent, that will be another worry for next month...you know how fearful I am that I am going to quit running.  However I do think I will take a break after the half in October, and do crosstraining in between. 

  
  I am learning lots of college lingo that I never really knew what it meant, like Syllabus, and synchronous, and Ruberic.  I asked God to let me retain all that I learn, and so far He has really helped me!  And I just learned that blogging is going to help me in my writing assignments!  My first 5 week term starts tomorrow, but the instructors have already posted some of the assignments, so I have gotten a jump start.  My worst fear is falling behind.  I like the luxury of taking a lot of time to study and take notes. 

  Tomorrow is my 10 mile run.  I am looking forward to it, but also know that this is how I do.  I feel all big and bad like i know I can do it, being all relaxed, but then the morning of a long run comes and I have to remind myself constantly of the benefiits.  I will burn 1,000 calories, I will have the most awesome runners high, I will totally deserve the break I get over the next two days, and some bragging rights.  You would be surprised at the level of procrastination that goes just before a run LOL.

   

Feeling failure...maybe I need a change.

  Well, it seems that I promised myself at some point in this running journey that I would not compromise.  I was holding pretty good to that, even last Thursday I wasn't able to get a run in due to a busy schedule in the morning.  Then in the afternoon I was having stress pains so I put it off.  Finally that night I told myself "you have just long enough to get the three miles in before it gets dark.", so I put on my running gear and blasted the three miles!  I even set a personal record!  It was dark and I was out of breath considerably when I came rolling up the driveway. But I felt pretty darn good.

  Then it occurred to me.  That night run went so well because it was different, a change.  I don't think I have become bored with running, although I do think I have become bored with my route.  There are other courses I can take, but I get nervous about doing so because at least on my route I know when I am almost done, or to my half way point, or where the dog is that is going to bark at me any minute.  I know which side of the road to run on to avoid blackberry branches that stick out too far, or to stay in plain sight of drivers.  I know the air is safe and I won't be breathing in exhaust fumes....But sometimes I wonder if the fear of the unknown is part of the victory of trying something new.  Does that make sense? 

  I have noticed that on my cross train days (when I do actually cross train) after I am done lifting weights (okay, if you just pictured me on a weight bench with a bar across my chest pressing 100 lbs, you are welcome to keep that image, but I gotta tell you it's not correct, picture more like me standing with  a 12 lb weight in each hand with quivering arms on about the 10th rep pushing upwards) that I always feel most like running.  Sooooo....I am thinking about going to the gym, doing some weight training, then heading outside for a run around the nearby neighborhood, or the footpath.  The day I can program into my phone step by step spoken directions for a new neighborhood run, I will be so thankful!

  Saturdays are usually my long run days.  This Saturday I was scheduled to do a 5K race, that is 3.2 miles.  If I have no races in my area, or don't feel like shelling out the money to run in one, then I just do the mileage.  The reason Higdon puts races on the schedule is to see where one is speed wise.  Well, I had every excuse in the book to blow off that run.

1. my kids were both at sleepovers

2. my husband had the day off and wanted to spend it together 

3. I already know my pace from the awesome three I ran Thursday night...

and the list goes on.

  So I listened to my voices.  The scale reflects my failure. And I need to stop beating myself up and get back on the wagon.  Here is another crux.  Today is a scheduled rest day, and I really want to stick to the schedule.  I will not run or do weights today because I have a big week ahead of me with running, and will need my energy, but I won't be able to help feeling like a failure because I didn't run on Saturday when I truly could have found a way.  

  This is what I will tell myself.  Tomorrow is a run day.  You will run.  You will do great because of all that rest you had.  It will set a nice tone for the day and the week.

  Praying that I get all my runs in despite the voices and my new schedule.