Yes, once again it is raining. But, that never stopped me before so I got home, changed and hit the track. At 5:00 it was nearly dark already between the time change and the clouds. When I left the house John told me he wanted to see some 9:30 miles… normally I do not listen to him (well, I do quite often) so I took it as a challenge. The fact that it was POURING didn’t hurt either.

I left the music in the car and RAN. No worries about puddles or mud or horse poop… I pounded through it all. The fact that I was the only one running in the rain I just let go – I was breathing like a freight train and it wasn’t pretty at all. I didn’t care.

At mile two I had to slow a bit just to tighten my pants up. I wore my XL adidas capris that just continued to get bigger and baggier as they got wetter. I wish I had worn shorts. By the end of the run they felt like they were 10 pounds!

So, after 28:09 minutes I was soaking wet but SO happy. I bet another personal record and ran the 3 miles faster than i have ever before. My average pace 9:14!

Running is a big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks you, ‘Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?’”
- Peter Maher, Canadian marathon runner

I was cleaning off my dresser and found one of my quote books. I love finding new and meaningful quotes and reading them. I have a hard time passing up pretty notebooks so I have to find something to do with them.

When I was reading three quotes really jumped out – about making choices. I think this is one of the things that really clicked with me last year when I started my journey to be fit and healthy. I have a choice about what I do with my body. I had to chose if I wanted to stay fat. If I wanted to stay fat I could but I had to live with it. I couldn’t complain or whine or be depressed because it was my choice. OR I could chose to get healthy. You cannot have it both ways. Thankfully I decided to get healthy and I can’t imagine chosing to ever be fat again.

Here are three quotes that I have had that really made me think. It is funny how things come to light at just the right moment in time.

“You are one breath away from being anything you want to be…that one breath is a choice, chose it.” Jillian Michaels

“The way you live your life, the perspective you select, is a choice you make every single day when you wake up. It’s your’s to decide.” Lance Armstrong

“Be miserable. OR motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” Wayne Dryer

Right now the 11 mile run I did yesterday has exhasuted me. This is the first time after a run that I have been sore and tired. I felt great yesterday, but it hit me today. So, I am exercising my choice right now to go to bed!!!  Good Night!

Long, slow distance – that was the name of the game for today. I had my longest run at 11 miles and accomplished it wonderfully. I was torn on where to go. I really like the road that I ran on in the past for shorter distances and with a friend, but for 11 miles I will feeling a bit uneasy about being alone for such a long time out there. Plus, being on the road is just not relaxing. I cannot just RUN – I have to be on the constant look out for cars and dogs, potential kidnappers and rapists.  I decided instead to go to the park and run the park as usual, but also go off on some surrounding roads.

The plan worked out perfectly. I was relaxed and happy in my surroundings and the times I spent on the road with minimal, but were a nice diversion from the park trail. I was able to listen to my music and focus on my running. The best part was that my car was in a central location so I didn’t need to carry everything with me. I converted my car into a water station and swung by as often as I could.

I had two bottles of water supplemented with electolytes, Power Bar Gel, and raisins. I read this week that raisins are better than the little gummy power bite things I have been using. They have just as many calories, more carbohydrates and ore potassium. Today was the day to try them out.

I decided to make my first stop after 4 miles, I ran by the car and grabbed a water bottle and my Power Bar Gel (Double Latte Flavor). I sucked it down (literally) and ran off. It was getting pretty warm so I decided to carry one of my waterbottles with me. It was a good decision. For the next four miles I was able to just take a sip of water as needed without worrying about getting back to the car.

At mile 7 it seemed to be really hot. I was coming down a side road and I had two things on my mind my raisins and the Badwater Marathoners. I read a book a few months ago about the people that run The Badwater Marathon in Death Valley – is 130+ miles long and ends at the summit of a mountain. I cannot even imagine doing it at all. So today when I was pretty warm and parched (despite having my water) I was thinking about how those people do it!

Then the thoughts of raisins. I had planned that at my 8 mile refuel I would have the raisins. I kept thinking the words, “raisins, raisins, mighty fine raisins”. This is something John has said in the past – I do not know why. I also thought it was an old jingle for raisins or something, but it could very well be something he just made up. Never the less, I was thinking it over and over for the quarter mile that it took to get me to my next fueling.

I decided to grab my baggie of raisins and walk a bit while I chewed them up. I sure was looking forward to them, but they were not as tasty as I had hoped. I got a couple of handfuls down and started in on my last three miles. This time I left the water at the car because I was not going to go far from it.

At about mile 9 my toes on my right foot really started to hurt. I slowed down and bit and tried to alter my gait a bit to avoid them having so much pressure. This occupied my thoughts of awhile. I kept thinking how much pain I was going to be in when I ran the marathon. By mile 10 the pain was mysteriously gone. That is good. I swung by the car and took a swig of water and was ready for my last mile.

It is pretty exciting to go where you have never been before. Not geographically, but physically and mentally. Before the past few months I would never have thought I could run this distance. Now I think I can run any distance I want. Despite this new-found confidence it is still really exciting to cross that threshold. A friend posted a great quote this week:

“As an athlete, when you least expect it, you may find yourself standing on the threshold of an accomplishment so monumental that it strikes fear into your soul. You must stand ready, at any moment, to face the unknown. You must be ready to walk boldly thru the wall of uncertainty.” ~ John “the Penguin” Bingham

Today my run was not even half of what I will be doing next February, but it was something about the double digits that really hit me. This is awesome. I really was so proud of myself. I was uncertain this week that I would be able to handle the distance. The pain I had on Thursday was tough and I did have doubts that I was going to be able to go the distance today. But I did. I am so happy.

There are 4 weeks before my first half marathon. Between the training I will be doing and the excitement of the race I am hoping to be able to run a 10:30 pace. I should be able to finish in 2:18… that is the goal.

After some walking to cool down and some light stretching I headed home for my recover drink!

Chocolate milk is supposed to be one of the best recovery drinks around. I enjoyed it thoroughly!

I have another mile-filled week ahead of me…

Monday: cross training
Tuesday: 3 miles
Wednesday: 6 miles
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: REST
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 12 miles!!!!

On tap today was a 6 miler. After my terrible 6 miles the other night I was a bit nervous about how my feet would hold up. It is too early in the training to start getting injured! I have been trying to do everything right so it was very frustrating the other night. However, I think the massage from Bonnie yesterday really did the trick, that and my stretching, icing, Bio-Freeze, golf ball rolling and rest….

I planned on sleeping in today but I woke up at 5:00 as usual. I did go back to bed and dozed on an off until 6:30. It was nice not to have to rush out of bed. After awhile I just started craving my coffee so I got up. I had to bundle up, it seemed extra chilly in the house. Sure enough, it was 57 degrees! I just bundled up and got my coffee to warm me.

I ate, did some stretching and headed to the park about 9:00. I started with my long sleeve running shirt but after 2 miles had to strip down to a short sleeved shirt. The sun was out and it was surprisingly warm.

My run started with me heading down the road. I was going to run the loop I ran with Scarlette the other night, but there was a lot of traffic this morning and I just could not get a rhythm going. I had to keep slowing down and getting off to the side of the road. After a bit I just turned around and headed to the safety of the park. I kept my water bottle on the back of my car so every couple of miles I just swung by and took a sip rather than carrying it. At mile 4 I took in half of a gel packet.

The whole time I ran there was no pain. I felt so great and was able to speed up as the miles went on. I ended up with a 10 minute per mile pace – which means I ran faster than that towards then end since I know I was much slower the first two miles because of my road difficulties.

This is my best time for distance. I really pushed it at the end because I did not want to go over an hour. I think by spring I will easily be able to run the Cooper River Bridge Run in under and hour.

After my run I decided to go to Fresh Market in Hendersonville which is conveniently located near the Ingles with the Starbucks. Really, truly, that was my only reason I wanted to go up there, but I could not justify the trip for JUST a cup of coffee!

I finally got a gingerbread latte in a holiday cup! I am so happy. I asked them to only put 2 shots of the syrup in instead of 4 – it was still very tasty.

I got home and finally did some house cleaning and folded a weeks worth of clothes that had been washed and dried, but never made it out of the laundry room.

For dinner I made delicious homemade macaroni and cheese – it was warm and yummy.

Now we are sitting by the fire – too bad it won’t stay roaring all night – it will probably be cold again in the morning. I may just have to put the heat on.

What a great day! Since I had my rest day on Wednesday due to work I had to get in three miles today. The great thing was that I had to work the 10:00-7:00 shift today so that gave me time this morning to get my run in. I woke up at my normal time and enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee and read. I also iced my feet and calves and did some light stretching and the foam roller. I really want to make sure I am doing everything possible to prevent the pain from coming again.

I got to the track abou 7:20, geared up and started at a nice pace. It was only 37 degrees outside so I was feeling a bit stiff the first half mile or so. The cranked the music (The Charlies Angels soundtrack – I love it!) and got into a nice groove. I ran between a 10:30-11:00 min pace which is slow for a 3 milers, but considering my pain the night before I just wanted to take it easier. I felt a bit of discomfort but it was so cold I think it masked it. I ended up fininishing in 32 minutes and I felt really good.

As I was pulling out of the parking lot I decided to see if I could get in a massage today. Bonnie never has any openings, but I was hoping someone cancelled. I called and they said she had a cancellation at 9:00!!!! I had to hussle! I got home, threw my work clothes and make-up extra in a bag and headed down for a massage. I told her the problems I have been having this week so she spent the whole hour on my feet and lower legs. It was awesome. She said she did not feel a heel spur but that my plantar fascia muscle was very inflammed. She told me to keep icing it. I asked her about my golf ball massage and she said that is the right thing to do.

Tomorrow I have 6 miles so I am going to ice and massage tonight and tomorrow morning. Hopefully after a couple of days this will have all passed… I hope!

I had my mid-week 6 mile run this week – finally. I got permission from my manager to leave an hour early once a week to get this run in. It is so wonderful to work for someone that is so flexible. I got home about 4;30, changed and after a brief (very) warm-up I started running. I set off on my normal pace but quickly had to slow down. The heel pain I have had all week started to flare up fairly early in the run.

By mile two I was ready to quit. It hurt and my left calf started to cramp. I decided to stop my watch and spend some time stretching and massaging my calf. After a few minutes I set off again. I continued to have a bit of discomfort, but the pain seemed to decrease. I tried not to focus so much on the pain and tried to thing of things to make the time pass.

I thought of the USMC phrase “pain is weakness leaving the body”. Believe it or not I said this over and over many times. I even visualized the pain shooting out of my heels. It kept my mind occupied and seemed to work for the next couple of miles.

I finally got to mile 4.5 and convinced myself that I could make it. I was going pretty slow at this point and tired to pick up the pace but I just couldn’t. It was pretty dark at this point (6:00 PM) so I had to stay on the lighted track with the rest of the people. By mile 5.5 I was done. I didn’t think I could go anymore.

I actually even went to the car at this point and took off my Ipod and was just about ready to leave when I thought of something else.

“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” (Lance Armstrong)

I only had a half of a mile to go. I could not let myself quit and this point. I just felt that if I start cheating myself on my runs now that it will lead to me quitting on my longer runs later. I locked the car back up and went out for my last two laps around the track. I was so happy that I completed my run without giving up.

I got home and stretched, iced and rolled my foot on the golf ball. I do not know if I have plantar fasciitis starting or a bursitis in my heel. Where my heel pain is suggests more of the bursitis, but who knows. I am going to start doing exercised and stretching for both just to make sure.

Tomorrow I have a three mile run in the morning to make up from this week. Then I have 6 on Saturday and 11 on Sunday. I am really worried about the Sunday run.

I am ready for bed!

I really do not have anything interesting to add tonight. I had a long training day – it was good, but talking all day is always draining. It is a really nice group of people down from Boston so at least they make it enjoyable. Tonight we all went out to dinner to a Thai restaurant. I love Thai and was excited to try this new restaurant. I was trying think of what I wanted when my boss suggested we order several dishes and pass them around and share. Everyone thought that was a great idea. The waitress came and my boss said – “ok, Laura, order for all of us”. So, I did! It was pretty fun. Clearly I was not paying!!!

Appetizers:
Fresh spring rolls
Regular spring rolls
Chicken satay
Thai golden shrimp
Dumplings

Main Courses:
Jalapeno Chicken Cashew (THE BEST!)
Pad Thai
Stir Fried Spicy Beef
Spicy Stir Fried Shrimp
Duck Panpang
Pineapple Fried Rice

It was delightful. I really only had a couple of bits of each thing so it really wasn’t too bad. I could have eaten the whole plate of the jalapeno chicken. It was amazing. I think everyone really enjoyed the choices! I should have taken pictures, but I completely forgot about it.

The conversation was excellent. Nobody is shy and everyone got to talk a lot – nobody dominated the conversation so it was really fun. I learned that one of the girls runs marathons. She has already run two and she is going to run Boston in the spring. She said she runs slow and steady. I wish I could have talked to her more but we were at opposite ends of the table. I will have to keep in touch with her.

Before dinner I went to Target and bought some pretty golf balls to start using a few times a day to massage the bottoms of my feet. Everything I read said this does the trick. We shall see… I really do need to have my feet to stop hurting!

It is WAY past my bedtime!!!!!

The marathon is exactly 100 days away from today… boy oh boy do I have a long way to go!!!! I have a lot of training miles to log. I really love training – it is fun to have the plan and check off each day as DONE. I have already completed the three first weeks of training and have already run 71 miles!!!

I am still struggling with getting through week 4… my plan of running my 6 miles tonight did not work out. It just got too dark too fast and I could not bring myself to run 6 miles around the track. I did 3. Tomorrow is a complete wash – there is no way I can do 6 miles. I will just have to see what Thursday and Friday bring. I really do not want to run 6 on Friday morning because my legs will be tired for my 6 on Saturday and 11 on Sunday. I NEED MY REST DAY!

After this week I hope there are NO MORE interruptions

Needless to say, Jillian has been put on hold this week as well. If there isn’t time to run, there isn’t time to Shred. I will start back up next week!

This is a crucial mileage week for me and it is going to be very difficult to get my week day runs in. I am trying to to stress over this, but I can’t help it. Due to a three day training session at work (that I am conducting) I will have to miss my lunch time runs, which leaves me to have to run after work. Since it is now getting dark at 6:00 I will be forced to run around the track in circles.

The worst part is Wednesday… 6 miles. Then I check my calendar – I forgot we will have to go out to a business dinner (reservations at 6:30). There is NO chance I can get my run in that day at all.

So, here is the revised plan:
Tonight: cross training (I was going to try to run, but dinner got in the way)
Tuesday: If all goes well I need to be out of the office at 5:00 and home at 5:30, change and get to the park fast. If I run at a good clip I should finish in an hour.
Wednesday: nothing
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: I have to work 10-7 so I am going to get the 3 mile run in that I missed from Tuesday.
Proceed with Saturday and Sunday as normal…

I do not like that work gets in the way of my life!

I am afraid I am becoming a huge running geek. It is really all I think about – how to eat so I get better, how to train, what the plan is for the week, etc. I also love to read inspiring stories about runners. If I am really lucky, like today, I get to watch them. Today was the 40th running of the ING NYC Marathon. The race was televised on NBC so I got the privilege of  of seeing many elite runners give it their all to try to win. An American has not won this race in 27 years. This year was the year an American was going to win. There were many American men that had a chance (Six American men finished in the top 10). Most of the pre-race buzz I read had Ryan Hall as our big hope. Most, however, still thought a Kenyan was going to win.

I logged in an knew who the winner was before watching my taped, pre-recorded, version. Even though I knew who the winner was I was still riveted to screen for the last three miles. The two that were fighting it out at mile 23 were actually shoving each other! I guess I will never have to worry about that kind of racing!!! It was Meb Keflezighi of the U.S.A against Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya. Suddenly Meb broke away and never looked back (well, he DID look back and found that he had a HUGE lead). The last half mile he gave the crowd a thumbs-up and pointed to the U.S.A on his chest. He was so proud. As he crossed the finish line he dropped and kissed the ground. He was so emotional and excited. They wrapped the American flag around him and even though he was tired he took the time to make sure the flag was right-side up and held it high in the air. He was SO proud. It was really magical to watch.

On the woman’s side the winner was Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia. What was amazing about the women’s field was that most of the leaders were in their mid to late 30’s and early 40’s and have children. The winner was said to be battling “weight” issues since the birth of her second child three years ago. The funny thing about watching the women was that the commentators kept saying what a slow race it was! The first place time was 2:28:52 – that is a 5:41 pace for 26.2 miles!!!! I am in awe.

So, today for me was the end of my “easy” week for the marathon training. Tomorrow I start week 4 and end next week with an 11 mile run! My mileage for this week will be:

Monday: Cross training
Tuesday: 3
Wednesday: 6
Thursday: 4
Friday: rest (like you didn’t know)
Saturday: 6
Sunday: 11
Total: 30 miles!

Considering that my 23 miles this week left my legs pretty tired I am going to have to be extra careful with my nutrition and everything else. 30 miles is a huge leap for me. It should be interesting!