8.6 mile long run!!!

I was able to complete my long run yesterday and it was amazing.  It wasn't the pace that I was looking for but I kind of expected it to be a little slower than normal because I only was able to run less than 5 miles before I even started my long run. Since my half marathon is coming up in 2 months from today, I had to start adding miles to my long runs.  Yesterday was suppose to 8 miles but the weather was too pretty and perfect not to do what I felt that I could do.

Starting out I was going at a good pace. As I approached one of the many hills on my route, I was starting to get intimidated.  I was letting my mind play tricks on me.  Remember me telling you about how I am usually the one that I have to prove wrong?  Well yesterday was definitely one of those days for me. My run started out good up until I hit about 3.5 miles.  This was a little bit before I had almost twisted my ankle last week on the same route so I was being cautious this time around.  I kept telling myself that I had plenty of time to train and that if I turned around now it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

I quickly talked myself out of that one.  I started out with a goal and I intended on finishing it.  So one foot in front of the other, I kept going.  It seemed to take forever for me to reach the halfway point of my run.  When I did, it turned out to be .37 miles over 4 miles.  So I took a break to get something to drink and stretch. Then I started to head back.  This is when it started to get hard for me.

I can laugh about this now but when it happened, that was definitely not the cause.  I was running along listening to my music when I heard a dog bark.  Turned to look and BAM!!  There is this German Shepherd running beside me barking.  Naturally, I screamed and the dog ran.  He would bark and come back again.  I kept screaming GET!!  Considering that at this point I had been running close to 5.5 miles or a little further, the fact that I could speak so clearly shocked me.  I was finally able to get away from the dog.  A friend of mine told me I should get mace.  Believe me that was the exact thought going through my head when I saw that dog.

For the rest of my run, I didn't have any problems with anymore dogs.  Thank goodness!!  I did, however, still continued to struggle.  My legs were tired and burning.  To be honest, I was tired of seeing nothing but rolling hills.  I knew that if I stopped, I would be beating myself up for it for the rest of the day.  Needless to say, during this time I had my slowest mile.  Did I stop running?  No.  I made the choice to keep running and not to give up. Yes it was slow but I never gave up.  The more I think about it the more that I am proud of that one mile because I chose to keep going.

When I hit mile 7.5, I have never in my life been so happy to see that stupid traffic light in my life.  I knew once I saw that light, there were no more rolling hills and I was only a mile or so away from my car!!  As funny as that sounds now, I was exhausted and ready to sit down.  Relax a minute.  This is where I believe I have grown as a runner.  I set a goal of how far I was going to run and when I hit that goal, I realized that I had only .6 miles before I was at my car. So I thought to myself what is .6 more miles and I gave it everything I had. The last couple miles of my run were probably the  best.

Below is the quote that I saw after my run and I think that it has a lot of truth behind it.  There were several times during my run that I wanted to stop and I got quite a workout from pushing myself almost 2 miles past the point when I wanted to stop.

So if you ever feel like stopping and know you should push yourself, do it. It is an amazing feeling that you did something that you almost gave up.  You proved yourself wrong and anyone else that thought you couldn't do it.  Try it next time and share it with someone.  Whether it is commenting on this post, telling a friend or a family member.  I would love to hear about it.  So until next time.

My Family

I originally created this blog to discuss the ups and downs that I have encountered while training for my upcoming half marathons for this year.  I have decided to have a record of things that my family has done and the funny sayings that my kids have said. I hope that you will  enjoy reading these as well.

My name is Melody and I have been married to my husband Brad for 9 years in just a couple of weeks.  We have a son, Bradley, who is six and a daughter, Peyton, who is 3.  Bradley is getting ready to start school this coming up Tuesday.  He is beyond excited!!  All I have heard is when is school starting?  He is a little nervous this year.  Although he is going into the 1st grade, he will be starting a new school.

Peyton on the other hand is not very happy.  She really wants to start school but she is not quite hold enough.  We had her screened to see if we could get her into preschool.  Even though she is only 3, we thought we could give a shot and see if we could get her into the preschool in the school system.  She did really well with her tests but since she is only 3, she didn't get in.  That is alright.  Like I said, it was worth a shot to try.

This week has been a hectic one.  Peyton has been sick and had to go to the doctor twice this week.  She has been running a fever off and on since Sunday night.  I thought that she was cutting her other two year molars that have yet to come in but when she was going on 3 days of a fever and it just kept getting higher and higher I called the doctor.  She couldn't find anything wrong and even sent her to have chest x rays and blood work done. 

It is funny now but not at the time.  After she had her blood drawn, she was crying down the hall saying that she wanted her blood back.  It was so cute.  About a couple of hours after the tests, her doctor called.  Everything was fine and if she didn't get to feeling better and her fever was still high she needed to come back on Friday.  We thought she was doing better then her fever spiked again last night. 

We called the doc and got her in this morning.  Turns out she has a double ear infection and had to be put on antibiotics.  We are just happy that we know what was wrong with her.  It was so pitiful to see her laying there in obvious pain and there was nothing that you could do about it.  I didn't know what to do but give her some meds to help bring the fever down and turns out, help with the pain that she was feeling from the ear infections.  I am just glad she is feeling better.  I am sure that I will have more to say next time.  So until then.

What a Week!!

I love this quote from Jillian Michaels.  For me, it has a lot of truth behind it. Sometimes, I honestly choose failure even though I know success is an option.  When I was overweight, I always took the easy road.  I can't do that because....You could just feel in the blank with any excuse and I have probably used it.  Another thing that I struggle with is the fact that I have had several people make me feel as though I am not good enough.  So choosing failure was always the easy way out.  If no one else thought that I could do it, then what was the point right?  WRONG!!!

I have learned over the 2 1/2 years that I have been exercising that when someone says or makes you feel as though you are not good enough.  Use that as fuel during your workout.  Prove them wrong!!  I am the one person that I seem to constantly be trying to prove wrong.  I am saying this because as a runner I find it hard to be perfect.  I mean let's face it.  No one on earth is perfect so no point and trying to be. 

Having said that, I have not had a very good training week this week.  My daughter has been sick with what has turned into a double ear infections.  She started her antibiotics today so I am hoping that once those kick in she will feel better soon.  I have run less than 5 miles this week and tomorrow is suppose to be my long run.  8 miles!!  Last year, this was the mileage I stopped at and didn't continue with my training and I feel that my race suffered.  At the time, I was a newbie runner so I didn't realize the importance of training.  The below quote perfectly describes how I feel about training since I didn't follow through last year.

 

 

Now I understand that there are some people that can barely train and do fine in races.  Me, on the other hand, I am not one of those lucky people.  I have to put months of training into a race.  In the end, I know that it will be worth it.  My first half marathon of the year is September 28.  I am looking at right now shaving about 30 minutes or more off my time from last year. This is only because I learned many mistakes in my training last year. For instance, don't over work yourself and go further than 8 miles in training.  I have worked hard to be able to get to where I am at right now.  I have met many friends through running and many friendships have been strengthened.  Now don't get me wrong, if I run with someone I am not one of those that runs and talks.  I would be so short winded that it wouldn't even be funny. lol  I will post tomorrow about my run.  Here is to keeping my fingers crossed that I don't have another run like last week.  It is suppose to be pretty and cloudy with temps in the mid to upper 60's so I am hoping for a good run.  :)

When Life Happens

I have learned that when it comes to running that things are going to happen. For instance this week I have only run one day due to my daughter being. Since I am suppose to run 8 miles this week, I really should have run at least 2 or 3 days before my long run. Due to the circumstances, that isn't going to happen.

I have been keeping an eye on the weather to see which day would be the best day to do my long run. If everything goes as planned, I should be able to go when the weather is perfect. The weather is suppose to be cool and humidity will be in the mid 90's but when the temps are low then you can barely feel the humidity. At least for me anyway. I am so excited!!!

I am going to be honest with you. I get nervous anytime that I do my long runs. I am not sure why. I know that I am able to run the distance because I have done it before. Maybe I put too much pressure on myself.

As I have said in my previous blog, I have a certain pace that I have to maintain in order to come within my goal time. I have done research to figure out what my exact pace has to be per mile in order to reach that goal. I am not saying that my pace now isn't good because it is. I have improved so much from time last year. I am looking to shave at least 30 minutes off my time but to me that isn't good enough. I will save that discussion for a later post.

All I know is that I get really nervous. Then when I am about a mile to two miles into the run I am good. When I get to feeling this way, I wish that I could just skip the first couple miles and be on cloud nine for the rest of the run. That can only happen in theory.

I have learned that I have to mentally prepare myself for the run. The running itself prepares me physically. Does anyone else have these same issues when they start a long run? If so what do you do to overcome them?

Change of Scenery

Tuesday I decided that I would run a 5k  which is 3.1 miles. I was getting tired of the same route that I had been running  and really wanted to focus on my speed for the upcoming half marathon in September. So I decided to do a mile warm up on the dreadmill. A nickname that I have given the treadmill because everytime that I think of running on it I truly dread it. After I finished with that I decided to move onto the track at our local rec center.

I did 2.1 miles around the track and average pace was better than what I expected. I have certain pace that I have to maintain in order to complete my half within my goal time.

When it was cooler I had no problem maintaining that speed with rolling hills for at least 4.2 miles. So naturally when it warmed up my speed was slowed down by about a minute and it takes quite a bit out of a person to run in the heat and humidity.

There was one time that I ran about 3.25 miles in about 80 something degree weather with 100% humidity. Let me to tell you that was the dumbest idea I ever had.

Now that I got side tracked let's get back to my run Tuesday. I personally feel as though a change of scenery is good for a runner. That way when you get back out there you are refreshed. Usually when I do this I look forward to returning outside and conquering the road. Along with all my frustrations and struggles. They just seem to disappear and that is why I enjoy running so much. So until next time.

7 Mile Long Run

The below quote pretty much sums up my long run for my upcoming Half Marathon in September.  It seemed like anything that could have went wrong went wrong this morning.

My training schedule said that I was suppose to run 7 this morning and a friend of mine that I was going to run with this morning was going to do 8. I was like well I have no problem shooting for 8. If nothing else, I can run 7 and have a mile to cool down.  Well a little bit before I hit mile 3 I landed wrong on gravel that was on the road and about twisted my ankle. After that my run started to go downhill fast and I don't mean it in a good way. 

I had to stop a minute to make sure that everything was ok with my foot. Then when I did get started again it seemed to be slower and when I hit 4.18 miles I had to rest a minute because I was starting to get really hot and since it was extremely humid I wanted to make sure that I didn't pass out so I paused my run. Well apparently my Nike + app will only allow you to pass it for so long. So I had to end that run and start a new one.  I was slow going since it was warming up pretty fast it seemed like.  I also have plantar fasciitis in both of my feet so while I almost twisted my left ankle my right foot was messing up due to the plantar fasciitis.

So I wind up having to pause my run more than I wanted and usually don't walk much but I would walk up the hills and run down them. Our motto for the half marathon last year was "Never Waste a Downhill" so I definitely didn't do that.  I got my 7 miles in today but I was very disappointed with it.  I kept telling myself that I got 7 miles in and it doesn't really matter how.  With both my pace and my performance of the run.

When the weather was cooler, I could run about a minute or so faster than what I am running now and that is what I based my finish time on for the half. I know that this is where a lot of my criticism toward myself is coming from. I am just praying for cool weather.  I am beginning to learn that you need to focus on your own race.  Hence the name of the blog.  I tend to focus on other people's race and how they are performing.

Comparing myself to them and wondering why they are doing better than me.  Then in turn finding myself to be jealous which turned out to be the case here.  I was thinking about all the people that are doing better than me and finding myself getting upset.  Not at them but at me because I know that I have it in me to do better but I have never done well in the heat.  Whether it is walking or running so I am hoping that when the half marathon comes up I will do better.

I am looking forward to receiving this medal in September.  The bigger spur on the boot is a charm that can be put on a charm bracelet or necklace.  I am trying to remember the reason I started in the first place and receiving these medals is a good reminder.  I was the one that put in the hard work and dedication to receive this medal.  Nobody else could have done that for me and I am glad that I have the ability to do these races.  That is what has gotten me through this bad run for the day.  I am just going to keep trucking on.  So until I run again.

 

First Half Marathon 9/22/2012

I created this blog to have a place to express my feelings, frustrations and concerns just to get them off my chest and forget about them.  Last year I got bit by the running bug when a friend asked me to run a 5K to help her in a weight loss competition that is sponsored by one of our local pharmacy.  I amazed at the feeling that I felt when I crossed the finish line and accomplished my goal of running a 5K in under 30 minutes.  It was 28:42!!  For not really training much, the what looked like a massive hill at the time, that was a pretty good time.  I was so excited.  After that, I had a friend talk me into running the Women's Half Marathon.  Now you have to think not long before I just completed my first 5K so thinking about doing 13.1 was just unimaginable.

Well I finally gave in and said that I would do it.  I was beginning to train and my first 4 mile run was horrible. I didn't know what to expect when running in the heat and I wore long BLACK pants.  Needless to say, I was burning up.  I felt horrible because I ran with a group and I knew that I was holding them back because I was run/walking.  More walking than running.  As training went on, my first 5 mile run was an hour long. A 12 minute mile.  I was so soaked.  My biggest mistake that I was making was I wasn't willing to give up any of my other classes that I was doing at my local Rec Center.  I paid for that later.

I started definitely knee pain and it couldn't have come at a worse time.  I was running an average 10 minute for my long runs.  To make a long storage short, I had to go to the doctor. The first one wanted to do surgery and when I went to get a second opinion I didn't need it.  I was just doing too much and causing too much pressure to my knees.  Taking the doctor's advice, I cut back on my classes on the days that I was running.  This ultimately did a toll on my finish time.

As I approached the start line, I was very nervous as can be expected.  I think I was more nervous because in training I didn't run past 8 miles and here I was going to try and run 5.1 more miles than that.  Well for a while I was staying behind the 2:30 hour pace maker and I was so tickled.  Well in between 7 and 8 I lost it.  Which isn't surprising considering that I only went as far as 8 miles.  I was barely moving.  When I crossed the finish line the clock read 2:46 and some seconds.  I was so disappointed.  I had signed up to finish in 2:45 and thought that I hadn't reached my goal.  After I got home and checked my official time it was 2:43:09!!!  I was so excited!!  I was barely moving but I completed something I never thought possible.  It was an amazing feeling!!!

Several things that I learned from my first half marathon was that training was key.  I feel that if I would have completed my training that I would have had a better overall time.  I went from doing 10 min miles to 12:27 min miles when I finished.  I was very disappointed but in the end I keep telling myself that I did something that not many people did.  Vowed that next year when I ran this race again I would follow through with my training and on days that I run either don't do anything right after or what till later in the day to do.  I will blog more about more training on the next blog post.

 

The above quote was the my motivation to continue to the finish line and not worry much about my time.