Things learned in 14 miles

Yesterday was my first 14 mile run. It was hard, I’m not gonna lie. You would think that after accomplishing such a feat I would be excited and motivated…. right now I am just tired. Don’t get me wrong – I am really proud of myself and I do feel a sense of accomplishment for going so far, but mostly I am a bit scared! At this point I cannot imagine doing 26.2 miles.

However, on a 14 mile run there is plenty of time to think.

I thought about my year so far. Last December is when I had my first thought of running a 10K race. I remember the seed being planted by a friend. She was talking about a girl she worked with that was training and encouraging her to run it. My friend is not a runner and, at the time, I am not even sure how much she exercised. At that point I had already lost 40 pounds and was trying to decide what I was going to do next to keep myself motivated. I had always wanted to be a runner. I signed up for my first 5K in January and continued to have the 10K in my mind. The thought of running 6.2 miles was overwhelming. I doubted that I could do it. With a little encouragement I signed up and started training.

I remember when my long run was 4 miles. I was so worried I wouldn’t be able to do it. I did and was thrilled. It took me a couple of weeks to work up to 5 miles, then 6 miles then my LONG run at 7 miles a week or so before the race. I remember being beyond proud of myself for that mileage.

I thought of all this while running my 14 miles, but no matter how hard I tried to stay positive and focus on my past accomplishments all I could think about was how many miles I had left to go. Mile 6 was hard – at mile 6 I still had EIGHT miles to go. That is really hard to take. EIGHT MORE MILES. I think I even cussed a bit to myself wondering what the heck I was doing out there. Why the heck would I want to run this long. This is absolutely ridiculous.

Mile 7, mile 8, mile 9… same thoughts. At mile 10 it started to get a bit better when I realized I only had 4 more miles to go. There was a point at mile 10 when I was literally running from point to point. I was focused on getting to a particular tree, then a crack in the road, then a bridge, then past a fence. I kept repeating KEEP RUNNING… then I pretended Jillian was yelling at me “Unless you faint, puke or die…. KEEP RUNNING!!”. I kept running. finally mile 11, then mile 12.

At mile 12 a new kind of pain set in. I discovered when chafing starts. I thought I conquered chafing with my compression shorts. I haven’t had that problem in months. I see ads all the time for a product called “Body Glide” to help runners with chafing. Well, I never bought any because I have my fancy compression shorts now.

I am here to report that there ARE other types of chafing. For me it is my sports bra around my rib cage. Apparently it is now too big because it is just lose enough to rub just slightly enough to cause pain. At first it was annoyance, but after awhile, especially when the sweat started rolling it was pretty painful. Trying to ease my pain occupied my thoughts for the next mile.

Other things that I learned:

• Music is important but you can get really tired of listening to the noise after 2 hours.
• Foot pain does not go away the more you think about it
• It is very hard to keep your chest up and run with good posture after 12 miles
• Everything hurts the next day

Hopefully one day I will look back on this 14 mile run the same way I am looking back on my 4 mile run now!

Right now I am very tired and really need to lay down. It is back to running tomorrow. I sure hope my muscles feel better!

 

Thanksgiving weekend recap!

It looks like I missed a couple of days of blogging while I was out being thankful with my family! A girl can’t be at the computer ALL the time! I have thoroughly enjoyed every single day of this holiday. We actually had three celebrations this year; Thursday with John’s side of the family, Friday I cooked just for us (I HAVE to cook Thanksgiving dinner!) and Saturday with my parents, brother and nephew  (Mom’s meal was the best!). The great thing is that everyone cooks the meal slightly different and each have their own specialties so we were not necessarily eating the same thing over and over.

Of course, the BEST part of every day was the fact that I got to spend them with Katheryn and Mollie. Everything is better when they are around.

The grand finale was the after dinner entertainment at Mom and Dad’s – we celebrated by the fire pit. I love fires and being outside on a crisp evening was perfect.

Earlier in the day we toasted with a new drink Dad discovered – the Baby Guiness, I think.. I it is a mix of Bailey’s Irish Cream and a new coffee liquor by Patron made from tequila! It was excellent.

I could have partied like a rock star, but I had to control myself because, as usual, I had my Sunday long run to look forward to – 14 miles ain’t no joke and I had to be good.

This morning Katheryn and I spent the morning putting up the Christmas tree and just hanging out. It was the perfect morning. At noon she was heading to her boyfriends house and I to the track. All morning is was nice and a bit overcast. By the time I got to the track it was sunny. Sunny, windy and hot is good for a day at the beach – not good on November 29th during a 14 mile run. It is amazing how hot a sunny 65 degrees can be! By mile 5 I was really suffering a bit. I had already drank water at mile 4, but it wasn’t enough. I looped back around to the car for another chug. My water tasted funny and I was really worried it was soap. I washed them this morning in the sink – I usually put in the dishwasher. I do not know if I didn’t rinse it out enough or what, but I was a bit worried. Luckily I had two other water bottles lined up and they were ok, but I had planned on drinking all three.

Miles 5 – 9 were hard. More mentally than physically. I just kept thinking how much longer I still had. I tell you, it is really hard at mile 9 knowing there are 6 MORE miles!

Luckily I had some good music. For the first 10 miles I listened to ABBA! It was so much fun – every song was great and had an awesome beat. At mile 10 that playlist was done and I put on my favorite – Lady Gaga. She is the absolute best. Every song on her album The Fame is great. She has a new album out – I hope it is half as good.

I made it -  bit slower than I wanted. I planned on finishing in 2:30, but my pace got pretty slow towards the end and it took 2:40. Actually – that was fine because it was an 11:30 pace and that is really what I was supposed to run for my long run.

At mile 12 I was seriously wondering why the heck I decided I wanted to run this long! WHY – it is really hard. But, I guess that is the point. I needed a challenge and now I have one.

So, another week, more miles. I am supposed to run 15 miles next Sunday, but I have to start my half marathon taper. I will have to modify my marathon training plan a bit for this race. I still have a busy week:

Monday: cross training
Tuesday: 4 miles
Wednesday: 7 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: rest
Saturday: 7 miles
Sunday: 12 miles (modified – recommended miles from Hal’s intermediate half marathon plan)

My very own turkey trot

I was going to run in an official “Turkey Trot” in Spartanburg today. Apparently there is an 8K every year that is a great event. I just couldn’t bring myself to drive all the way down there. Instead, I went to the park and had my very own turkey trot.

Today I had to knock out 7 miles. After taking a bit of an unplanned break yesterday I would up and was really ready to get out and run. The extra day of rest really did my a world of good. I got on my new running outfit and headed to the park. It was 43 degrees when I got there, but I had on my new fancy running shirt and some new high tech running pants. Both with wicking material and I am sure other advanced features. I cranked up my music and got my 7 miles done in 1 hours and 14 minutes.

My plan was to wake up early, eat and get my food started for the day. I ended up sleeping in a bit because we stayed up late last night. I ended up going out for my run without breakfast – just some coffee. I wasn’t hungry at all and didn’t feel like eating anything. I got there and set up my car as my water station with my water bottle and some Cliff Shot chews. It worked out well and I took in three chews on my run.

Instead of my random thoughts that I usually have on my runs today I focused on what I was thankful for. There are SO MANY THINGS. I, of course, am so thankful for my family. I do not need a special day for that – I love my family and I can honesty say that every day of my life I think about how thankful I am. Katheryn is the light of my life – I thank God everyday that she is my daughter. I am thankful for John who pushes me everyday to do better. He knows I am capable of things before I am and convinces me to do things I might not do on my own. My parents are my ultimate supporters. They are two amazing people that have always believed in me and have supported me no matter what. My brother is amazing and a constant source of inspiration. I love my whole family everyday.

This year I have so much to be thankful for. I have gained so much this year while losing this weight. It has really been a wonderful year so far. Here are some random things I am thankful for:

• Running – it has saved me. I love it. I challenges me to do better and has opened me up to meeting new people. I have meet a lot of new friends through running.
• Jillian Michaels – she has given so much knowledge about how to change my life and lose weight. I am so happy I discovered her.
• Parks – who ever first decided to set aside land for people to use freely deserves a lot of credit! My favorite running places are in parks and I am thankful I do not have to run on roads all the time
• P9ox – it made me stronger and fitter
• My favorite foods! Greek yogurt, eggs, cheese Ezekiel bread, mandarin oranges, hummus, spinach, Green Monsters, butternut squash, apples, pasta… these are things I eat almost everyday and they make me happy
• Alcohol – yes, I am thankful for wine, beer, gin and whiskey. I love them all, in moderation, of course.
• Garmin. I LOVE my Garmin (well, John’s Garmin that I now call my own). it helps me stay on track. I love tracking my workouts in the Garmin training tool and in Training Peaks
• adidas – not only does it provide my a very nice income, but it makes some of the greatest workout apparel and running shoes there is.
• Magazines – These are my very favorite thing to buy. I love magazines – all kinds.
• Coffee – Starbucks is the best – home brewed French Roast, Iced Lattes and during the holidays the Gingerbread Latte!!! YUMM!
• Living in the South: The weather is mild and comfortable year round
• Training Plans: I really am thankful for people like Hal Higdon take the time to put together wonderful running training plans for me to follow to achieve my goals

Last but not least, there is one more addition to the family MOLLIE! Sweet, sweet Mollie. I couldn’t believe my ears when Katheryn told us earlier this year that she was getting a DOG. Well, it didn’t take more than a few minutes for me to fall in love with her. Now I can’t get enough of her. Whenever she is here I want to pet her and take her for walks. She is the greatest dog ever.

TIRED

Man-oh-man am I tired! I have been really tired all week and I cannot seem to shake it. My muscles are tired, too. I have a lot of running to do yet this weekend so when I am not running I am going to try to just relax.

Today was a LONG day at work! I think every single one of us that was stuck there counted down every minute of the day.  There were plenty of things to do, but all I could think about was coming home and getting on with the holiday.

Tomorrow I am going to hit the park for 7 miles. It should be nice and chilly in the morning!

Not a very exciting post tonight, sorry!

They’re back!

Katheryn and Mollie came back a day earlier than expected and I couldn’t be happier. It was great coming home today and having them greet me at the door. It is going to be a fun week!

Now I just have to get all my runs in. The mileage seems a bit daunting with all the things that need to be done and all the socializing to do. I got my four miles in at lunch today and I will do the same tomorrow. The plan calls for 7 tomorrow, but I will save that for Thursday when I have more time.

It was a really good run today.  It was really chilly out and it was windy, but I averaged a 10:30 pace. I had to take a few extra laps around the parking lots to get to 4 miles, but it wasn’t bad.

Right now I am sitting on the couch with Mollie, Katheryn had an urge to bake so she is in the kitchen making pumpkin muffins and John built another gorgeous fire. Have I mentioned that I LOVE fires?

 

Words from Jillian

I haven’t talked about Jillian lately – she is still my hero, but she is not a running coach so she has not been in my mind lately. Tonight I watched her on a show called “The Doctor’s”. They talked about the up coming holidays and how to avoid holiday gain. The first question was:

How many extra calories does the average American consume DAILY during the holiday?

619 EXTRA calories per day!

WOW – that is a lot of extra calories. I, however, am morally opposed to DIETING on a holiday. I will be enjoying Thanksgiving meal how I want to… eating all the food I enjoy. I am going to have my homemade green bean casserole, NOT steamed fresh green beans. I will have mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and pie. I will enjoy it. I will not gorge myself, but I will thoroughly be thankful for all the delicious food and all my family and friends that I will be sharing it with.

I will also do the following…. WORK OUT HARD! I will not miss a scheduled run – I have a busy week of running and a few holiday meals are not going to get in my way. I used to make excuses during the holidays… it’s Thanksgiving, it’s Christmas, blah, blah blah… those are NO reason not to exercise.

I will also NOT partake in random food eating. The office will be filled with food for the next month. Take today – for no apparent reason Dunkin Donuts brought boxes of donuts. HANDS OFF! I will NOT eat any of these random food offerings at all. If I do decide to eat something at the office it will be planned. For example, last year we had a Christmas cookie bake-off (that I won)… I will know when that is coming and PLAN to have a couple of cookies.

The point is that I think that everything has to be planned to avoid holiday weight gain. It is not inevitable to gain weight. Last year I believe I lost 5 pounds during the holiday. I hope to do the same this year.

On Jillian’s blog today she also talked about being proud of all your accomplishments. She has said this a lot to me (yes, I like to think she actually talks to ME personally!). Do not diminish any of your accomplishments. If you lose ONE pound be proud of that pound. If you run, even though slower than you wanted to, be proud anyways. I really think this is one piece of advice that stuck with me and made a world of difference. You have to be proud of yourself.

Blogging by the fire

I LOVE coming home to this…

 

This was especially welcoming today after getting home after my cold 9-miler.  For the first three miles I had my hood up on my new fancy running shirt. That got to be too much as I warmed up and I got pretty comfortable. However, on the drive home I was just cold the entire drive. I had the heat in the car cranked up to 85 degrees. Even though I missed the rain it was damp the entire time and for the last mile it was trying to sprinkle so my clothes were damp. Combine that with my sweat and it was not comfortable. I had dry clothes in the car and I really should have changed, but I didn’t.

My new shirt with a close-up of the iPod pocket.

I was pretty pleased with this shirt. The hood was very handy and the iPod pocket was a nice change from the armband I usually wear. I will have to be cold or colder than today to wear it or it would be too warm. The iPod slips right into the pocket and there is a hole inside to string the headphone cord up through so it is not dangling and getting in the way. My new iPod does not sit in their snuggling and I was worried at first that it would fall out, but it didn’t.

My run yesterday was wonderful. I went with Mom and Dad to the Whitewater Center in Charlotte. There is a loop around the man-made whitewater river that I was planning on running, but it was only .75 miles and on gravel so I knew I didn’t want to stay on it for 6 miles. I ended up running down the entrance road and back. It is a pretty hilly road and made for an excellent run. This week I was supposed to run at race pace, but with part of the run on the gravel and part very hilly I averaged 10:30, which is fine for me. After seeing the half marathon course yesterday I know I have to focus more on hills than I have been. While I was busy with my run my parents were doing their own workouts – Mom ran/walk and Dad biked. It was fun to meet them at the end and start our day.

After the workout we headed to my brother’s house to pick up my nephew. My brother had to go on duty but luckily we got to spend a little time with him. He just got back from SWAT training so he was busy putting all of his gear away. I was amazed at all the stuff he had to wear – it was heavy! He had to run, do calisthenics, fight with others (hand-to-hand combat!) and do other drills. He wore this the whole week. He is amazing.  Of course, I had to try it on….

My dad makes a MUCH tougher looking SWAT guy!

After this we went shopping for a bit, out to lunch and home. I was feeling really drained the whole afternoon for some reason. Part if it was the neck ache that I had for the past day. It really made my whole head hurt. We had a delicious dinner and I then proceeded to lay on the couch. At 7:00 I feel asleep! At 8:00 I moved in to the bedroom and slept until 7:15 the next morning. Geez… I missed out on a whole night of fun.  Normally we play poker a bit before bed and it is always a lot of fun. I just didn’t have the energy!

I was worried about today’s run because it was supposed to rain all day. Luckily I woke up and it wasn’t raining and the news indicated that they rain wouldn’t get her until after noon. Good. I headed out towards home to get my run in, obviously, since I already talked about it above!!! I DID forget to mention that I ran the 9 miles at a 10:43 pace. That is pretty good for that distance, for me. I was really happy with my run. I felt great the entire time.  I used a energy gel after the first three miles then starting at mile 6 I started taking in energy jelly beans every half mile or so. Just one at a time – they were so good and dissolved easily in my mouth. MUCH better than the chews that get stuck to my teeth.

I have a very busy week coming up. Lots of running and lots of cooking!

Running:
Monday: 1 hour cross training
Tuesday : 4 miles
Wednesday: 7 miles
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: rest
Saturday 7 miles
Sunday: 14 miles!!
Total: 36   my-oh-my

On top of that I will have to do a little bit each day to get ready for Thanksgiving. I live this time of year and have lots of things to make! I better get my rest!

Busy Rest Day

I had a very busy rest day shopping with my parents. Dad and I walked around downtown Charlotte while we waited for Mom to get off of work. It was a beautiful day and I love Charlotte. I think I could get used to working in a city. I would hate the traffic so I would have to live in one of the $1,000,000 condos in City Center! 

Before heading to Concord Mills we made a side trip to the half marathon course. It actually starts downtown and loops through old neighborhoods. It should be a really nice run. There are a lot of hills – one pretty long one about mid-way through. I guess I will have to beef up my hill training! I hate hills! Oh well.

We headed to Concord Mills and did some shopping. I was armed with my 50% off adidas employee coupon and was hoping for some nice things. The new adidas outlet there was pretty nice. They had a lot of the new things and some really nice running gear. I like the new clothes they are coming out with that are iPod friendly. They have little pouches for the device and holes to easily string the headphones cords through. One day I might add pictures to this blog.

Tomorrow is a 6 miler that I will run at the NC Whitewater Center. It should be a fun run.

 

 

Another great run!

My Thursday three-milers are turning out to to be the best runs of the week. I ran 3 miles in 28:16. That is a 9:24 pace. It is always amazing to me what a difference 30 or 60 seconds makes. A 10:30 pace is comfortable. A 10:00 is my race pace. 10:00 is a pace where I am working hard, but I can maintain without feeling like I am dying.

Guess what tomorrow is!!??!!!   REST DAY! Yes, it’s true. I am once again thrilled to not to have to run tomorrow. In my training e-mail from Hal today he said, “Rest is always an important component of any training program. Sometimes rest is important for the mind as much as for the body. “

So, how will I spend my rest day? Lucky me, I am off work again Two days off is glorious. Today was spent getting my annual physical and first mammogram. The mammogram was not as traumatic as I was led to believe. My blood work came back immediately and it is perfect. The best part of the day was when the nurse was taking my pulse and before she told me the number she said fairly loudly “someone here is exercising!”.  My heart rate at the doctor’s was 56 beats per minute! That is wonderful. My blood pressure was good at 120/70. It hasn’t been that low since before I got pregnant over 20 years ago!

My cholesterol numbers came back immediately.

Total Cholesterol: 157 (reference<200)
HDL (good cholesterol): 62 (reference >40)
LDL (bad cholesterol): 77 (reference: <130)
Triglycerides: 87 (reference: <150)

Last year my numbers were already pretty good – after losing the first 40 pounds, but when I look back to 2007… oh my goodness! I was in SAD shape! Here are the comparisons from 2009/2008/2007:
Total Cholesterol:  157/148/226
HDL: 62/42/39 (the higher the better!)
LDL: 77/95/149(!) (the lower the better)
TG: 87/54/185 (!!!!) Hmmm, I wonder what made them go up from last year?

So, as you can see, 84 pounds makes a HUGE difference in more than just my clothing size!

The funny thing is that I had to beg the nurse to give me the cholesterol test this year. She said that insurance only pays for blood work every 5 years! It sure seems to me that 5 years is too long of a time to not know what your numbers are. I hate that our health care is coming to what is more cost effective. These are important numbers and everyone should be able to get their numbers whenever they want.

The rest of the day was spent shopping and getting my hair done. A perfectly wonderful way to spend my first day off.

This weekend should continue to be wonderful. Tomorrow I am heading to my parents for more shopping in Charlotte and just relaxing and enjoying their company. I will have to fit in a 6 mile run on Saturday (at race pace) and a 9 mile run on Sunday.

To prepare for the next few weeks I did go to Academy Sports today to stock up on some new fuel for my runs. The date balls are officially out of my menu and my new mantra will be – bring on the sugar!

I am particularly looking forward to the new gingerbread Cliff bar! I LOVE gingerbread!

Today I also bought something else new. I am just about out of my Amazing Grass greens powder that I make my green monster shakes out of. Since I had a 30% off coupon for GNC I thought I would see what they had. They had another brand of green powder that I thought I would get , but the very friendly sales person told me about the supplement package by the same brand. (Also, the same price for the same number of days worth of product). He told me that the supplements were more complete and suggested I try them. He wasn’t up-selling at all so it really didn’t matter to him money-wise which ones I bought. He seemed genuinely interested in selling me the best product.

I have been buying the greens powder to mix in my shakes because I do not like swallowing vitamins. I seriously think I have a really narrow throat or something because they always seem to want to choke me. (Of course, my “narrow” throat never stopped me from eating huge amounts of food in the past, so I do not know what that is all about). It must be yet another mental thing with me (just like balancing or running fast!). Yet another thing I will have to overcome. (For the record, overcoming things gets really tiring!).

So, now I have a months worth of 6 vitamins to take daily.

Apparently this has all the benefits of my greens, calcium, fish oil and a multi. We shall see.

I am so excited for this weekend. I LOVE being with my parents. Hopefully we will find some great buys, too!

Today is my Friday!

Yes, I have off for the next couple of days and I couldn’t be happier. The problem is that I had to work much harder today than I would on a normal Friday! But, it was fine since I had a ton of energy.

I started the morning off at my usual time but since I didn’t have to go in until 10:00 I went to the park for my 5 mile run. This is the first time in a while I actually got to do my Wednesday run ON Wednesday. I was ready to run, but not ready to go outside. Once again it was rainy and cold. It wasn’t really dark by the time I got there at 7:15, but it was just dreary and gloomy. I cranked up my tunes and started my run.

My training plan called today my “mid-week sorta long run”. Funny – not very technical sounding. It also told me to “run at a comfortable pace”. I like those kinds of instructions! I like being comfortable. Apparently I was comfortable at a 10:50 pace….. pretty slow, but indeed it was comfortable. I really didn’t feel like pushing it so that was fine. Hal Higdon says in all his books to listen to him. So, being the obedient person I am, I do. When he says to run race pace, I do that too. He assures me that he has trained 1,000’s of people and he knows what he is doing. I believe him.

Tomorrow is my annual physical and mammogram day – what an exciting way to spend my first day off!! After that I get my hair done and then who knows. Good times. Somewhere in between all this fun I have to fit in 3 miles. I just hope it is nice outside.

Right now I am exhausted so I am going to bed.