NYCM Training Week 8: Take 2

I have to say, this week of training I am not proud of.  I managed to get in one run and to say I am disappointed is an understatement.  Fortunately, some of it was out of my control.  

This week, once again, I am linking up with Meghan and Kat.

I can't believe there are only 70 days until the Marathon.  Where has the time gone?  Are there really only 10 more weeks?  Do I really start tapering in 7 weeks?  I sometimes wonder how on earth I am going to finish 26.2 miles upright!  I know I am more committed this training season than last, but damn, this shit is hard!

Back to the scheduled post of making excuses...

This week, on Tuesday, I ran a whole 4 miles.  :(

But that is better than 0 miles :)

Unfortunately the weather was the reason I wasn't able to get my week day runs in.  As soon as I would get back home from work the skies would let out horrible roars!  Monday it was bad so I moved that run to Tuesday.  I set out to do 8 because I was scared this would happen Wednesday.  I managed 4 and probably should have stopped at two because it was lightning and thundering and I was trying to hard to ignore it yet I know that is not what I should be doing.  I knew it wasn't right over my head at the moment so I just made a loop and stayed close to home.  Wednesday it was rainy and stormy and same with Thursday.  

See, I do have a gym membership but,

1. I hate the treadmill ( I need to get over it)

2.  There are no fans over the treadmills at L.A. Fitness so that sucks

3. 8 miles on the treadmill, ugh!- I can run 8 miles without stopping outside, but 8 miles on a treadmill will take me eternity.  How do you people do it?  Slow the speed, make it faster, what do you focus on?

This weekend was also full of excuses.

I had 17 miles of bridges that I WILL do next weekend!

It was poor planning and overcommitting on my part.  I also may have signed up for a TRI that took place on saturday that I never did..That is for another post.

Friday after work I went to the Backstreet Boys concert and didn't make it to Behns till after 12.  I was not going to run on less that 4 hours of sleep and be miserable, especially since we had the summer of Rum festival we were really looking forward to that evening.  With that being said, would I really be able to wake up Sunday for a long run after the summer of rum?  Realistically, in hind sight, I should have, but didn't plan accordingly.

I am taking this as a rest.recovery week.  This was the first week with the kids, my ankles have been hurting more, I think from being on my feet all day in terrible, no good for your feet shoes, and I was exhausted!  

yea, Backstreets back...Allright!!!

I ran into these pretty ladies at Rum Fest.  Don't mind the hair, no one else did.  It was a little humid apparently.

This week I will try my darm hardest to run as much as possible to get my monthly milage over 100 miles!!!

How do you get your runs in on the treadmill, are there any tricks I need to learn?

Are you training over summer and wondering where your speed has gone?  I miss mine and it's making me sad!!! How do you get it back?

NYCM Training week 6 & 7: Take 2

I can't believe how quickly the last two weeks have gone by.  I really meant to do a recap for week 6 but work started up and there went my time to do anything.  I can't get over how often some people blog?  Please give me hints on how you make the time?  By the time I get home it is time to run, shower, and go to bed!

I am going to make this post short because I am still hopeful the lightning and thunder will stop here and I can get my run in.  If not, at least I will have blogged and todays run will be moved to tomorrow! I am not going to lie, I do think my legs need an extra rest day but will get to that later.

I am linking up with Meghan and Kat this week for their Weekly Workout Roundup!

Week 6

Monday 8/5: 5.24 miles  1.5 in 18 minutes then 3.71 @ 11:19 pace and 

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday 8/7 3.7 @ 11:41 pace Tempo run (Tempo at 11:57)

Thursday 8/8 planned for 7 but slept in :(

Friday Rest Day 

Saturday 8/10 Christa's Graduation run 14 miles of bridges. 12:17 pace- this was pretty good minus except for the terrible stomach ache and therefore had to walk more than I would have liked

My new Camelbak and my sweaty body

Christa's graduation with Christa, Coach Lyle, me, and Coach Teresa

Week 7:
monday 8/12: 4.06 miles @ 11:34 pace
Tuesday Rest day
Wednesday 8/14 7 @ 12:25 pace.  This run I am not sure how to describe.  Work started monday and I came home and took a 2 hour nap.  This was incredibly hard but I did not stop at all to walk.  The pace would just not GO!
Thursday 8/15 6 mile progression run 11:29 pace- felt good for the most part.  Used the last mile as a cool down and the first mile I just couldn't slow down.  I got the miles in :)
Saturday 8/17 16 miles @ 12:45 pace.  This run went pretty well.  We walked about a mile because who I was running with wanted to walk to I took the brake with them!Some felt great and some felt hard.

I have noticed this whole week my legs were so sore.  I went in Saturday with sore legs which is beneficial come race day but made running 16 pretty annoying.  I also don't have a working ipod.



Those were my last two weeks and tomorrow my students come!  I am really excited to enlighten a whole new bunch of students.  I am hoping to be as productive as possible during the school day so I can leave on time to run.  Waking up at 4:45 doesn't leave much time in the evenings to get everything done.  I am proud that I got all my runs in last week. I am thinking my body is so sore because it is actually following a training schedule!  

Oh, I also made this for my classroom!

This came in the mail for me to review so I am excited to try it out.  I did receive this from fitluential :)

For all you bloggers, how do you stick to a blogging schedule?

What did you do this week that made you proud of yourself?

What songs should I add to my hopefully new ipod ??

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Gate River Run 15k Recap

As many of you know, I am not the best at doing race reaps, but lucky for you, I am on Spring Break which gives me a few minutes of free time.

Friday after work I went up to Jacksonville to visit one of my best college friends.  I registered for this race probably the day it opened.  I was very excited for this.  Not only would I be doing the race, it was the perfect excuse to see my friend.  We were going to make it a fun weekend with the other half of our crew coming up, but unfortunately, they were unable to make it.  

Friday after work I hit up the expo because Jamie home yet.  I picked up my packet, walked around a bit, shopped some and saw Marcia.  It is so nice to always see her.  It was also her birthday weekend and she killed it with a PR!  She was ma wasn't nning the Donna 26.2 booth where I picked up a pin for Jamie and I to wear in her moms honor.  This is actually how she noticed me along the course.  Luckily, I did not need anything from the expo so I just walked to kill some time.

After the expo, I went to Jamie's, but my stuff down and did a nice little two mile shake out run.  Once Jamie got home, we ran to Target for a few things then waited for her boyfriend to come home.  He just was awarded a promotion so we went out to carbo load and celebrate.  We went to an italian place near their house which was very good.  I am a very picky eater whose stomach cannot handle much before races so I thought our server would murder me, or spit in my food.  All I wanted was plain pasta and grilled chicken with marinara sauce on the side.  I didn't think that was too hard.  Just saying.  We went home and went to bed.  

Get in my belly!

Saturday we were up bright and early.  I knew I would not have time to do my scheduled warm up, per Mary's request, so I woke up a little earlier and got out there.  We met at J's friend, Kerry's house at 7 to head downtown.  It makes me laugh that we met at 7 because I love early races, especially if they start in the dark.  Call me crazy, but I don't like seeing my watch and the pace and if it dark, I can't see the watch.  We all carpooled on over, got stuck in traffic, went to the pottys and went to find our corrals.  This was Jamie's first race and I told her I can run with her, walk with her, or do whatever.  She told me to rock it and run my pace, which is exactly what I did.  See, I am training for this Irongirl Half Marathon so.. I sort of wanted to see what I had in me.  They were in wave 3, I was in wave 2 so we hugged goodbye and wished them luck.

Let me start off by saying, this was not an easy run.  There are two bridges.  One is worse than the other.  The Hart bridge is a terror, a bitch to say nicely, luckily it was at mile 8.. Thinking back, I sort of wish it was at the beginning so I still had energy.

I accidently went into wave one to start.  I had my phone out about to take a picture of the start line and people started walking, I figured I had time and was just being moved forward, I was wrong.  I was in the wrong wave.  I am not complaining.  This was beneficial because I wasn't stressing out.  I just went.  The first few miles flew by.  By mile 1.5 is when the first bridge, the Main Street bridge was up.  The elevation was not bad, the bad part was the grates in the bottom.  It freaked me out, and being from NY where this is normal on the street, I do not like that and always walk around them.  

 I was scared I was running to fast when at the 3 mile marker I was under 30 minutes.  At least that was a new PR for me.  I just kept running.  I sort of had a goal in mind but did not want to commit to it because I wasn't sure if I was going to run with my friend or if the bridges would get the best of me.  This is about where Marcia ran into me, she said HI, and took off!  Who would think there is a hilly course in Florida, but it seems as I always seem to find them.  I sort of figured that besides the bridges, the course would be flat, I was wrong.  Rolling hills, lots of rolling hills.  I just kept treking on.  The course was beautiful when we went by the water and the houses, WOW!  I was consistently holing about a 10  min mile pace, give or take a few seconds.  I was very excited and was hoping not to crash!  Jamie's boyfriend spotted me, gave me a shout and gave me some extra motivation.  My stomach started to cramp and I got nervous.  I knew I just had about a 5k left.  I had a Powergel with me, I wish I would have taken it at about mile 6.5 because at mile  I started to burn out.  I knew I can maintain my pace till I got to the Hart Bridge.  I did just that.  I stopped twice during mile 7, once to get an orange from a spectator, the second to get some water.  You can see my pace dropped there.  Then it was the bridge!!!  I ran that bridge..or so I thought.  You would never know I was running, it looked like walking, felt like walking but the energy was running.  I promise, I was running.  Once to the top, I sprinted down.  I know I had to get in the last kick!  I saw that before I hit the bridge my pace was about a 10, after the bridge.. a little more!  I wanted it down, I was determined to get it down.

And there the finish line was!  I made it, and a shiny new PR!  The last and only time I ran a 15k my time was about 2:04.  I was out of shape!  I wasn't running.  I just said, OK, this is better than doing the Half.  So that is what I did.  This time I was training, and I used this as a training run for Irongirl.

There were certainly some pro's and cons about this race so I will just give you a few of them:

*I loved our names on our bibs!  It is great to hear people call your name out while your running.

*I did not like that there was no Gatorade or anything of that sort on the course.  After we started, it got hot and I think that would have really helped me the last few miles.  

*The line to get the medal at the end, a cluster mess

*Free post race bags of ice and massages

*A beautiful race shirt (I will have to post that) and it fits perfectly!

*hilly course, you tell me..good or bad?

*Great Crowd support!

And I almost forgot.  My official time was 1:35:11.  Just what my Garmin read! Perfect!

Before!

After

 After the race, Ryan got us flowers!  So sweet!  And we headed for a post celebratory lunch at a bar!  It truly was a great weekend with great friends!  I am so glad I was able to do this!

Post Race celebrations!

have you ever done this run?  What were your thoughts?

Did you go into a race and crushed your expectation?

Also, did you enter the lululemon and race entry giveaway yet?

Weekly workout + Goofy Training week 5

How can you tell like if a little crazy, when you cannot remember what week of training you just completed.

The last two weeks were a little crazy and I got sick so that didn't help too much with the whole training for a 39.3 mile race.  With that, I also made a few race decisions about to upcoming year.

Grab a button and link up your workouts anytime this week! Leave a comment and I will stop by and say hello :)

I am going to roll the last two weeks workouts into one short and sweet post, why?  Because it won't take too long.

I wish I knew how to make running a priority with a new job, new classes, and new responsibilities.  I can't wait until next semester when it is time to redo many lessons, but not start from the beginning for three classes.  I can't wait until my lease is up so I can move closer to work.  (Sorry for my vent session and thank you for listening)

Last week, training week 4, I was extremely busy with being back from break and getting everything in order, and just when the week was calming down, I got sick.  I was so ready to do 2 back to back runs and neither happened.  I was supposed to run the Brandon Half Marathon on December 2nd, but was smart and pushed it to the 5k.  The day before, I was supposed to do another long run of 14 miles but when all I wanted to do was leave work, I knew that wasn't going to happen.  I actually slept over 11 hours and night and believe that is what my body needed.  I was sad I couldn't do the Brandon Half, but was hurting during the 5k, it was hard to breathe, I stopped twice to blow my nose, and just wasn't feeling right.  I did PR though for my 5k, so I wonder how much better I could have done without a rotten cold.  

The following week, I started to feel better and was still very busy (I have to spend many afternoons after school practicing for a secret Pep Rally Thing a ma jig)- It will be over This week.

Tuesday was track practice where I was able to get a mile done in 9:20.  Yay for getting faster :)

I had a few unanticipated rest days due to work.  Friday I went home right after work to get my runs in, I did it, but body wouldn't go so I turned around early :(

Saturday was a long run of 19 miles.  I had a good friend push me along for 14 of those miles until I felt bad that she was taking it slow with me!  I told her to take off and I was my slow self and powered till the end.

I hope that my body learns to move again, and I see improvements in my run.  At this point I am starting to get down about Disney :( I have to remember that I am not doing this one for time because it's two back to back runs. I want to have fun, even though I would love a time goal!  

How did your workouts go this week?

How do you get over the mental hump?

The scary, tedious, painful, glamorous, amazing..

Yes, you read the title correct.  

I did my last "long" run this weekend.  It consisted of 22 miles!  It consisted of all the above words.

Amazing, long, dreadful, painful, sweaty, etc.  I can keep going! 

This was exactly what I needed.  I still am not sure how prepared I am for NY, but there is no turning back now.  Whether I am prepared or not, I am finishing that damn race.  I am claiming my medal.  I have been running through the heat, new schedule, and injuries.  Ready or not, here I come.

Here is how my run went.

Friday night I can't really even remember what I ate, a half a bagel with peanut butter, and I am sure whatever else I was able to stick in my mouth.  I was sleeping before 9:00, that I know for sure.  My alarm was set for 4 knowing I was meeting my team at 6:30.  4:00 came and I almost said "F" it, I want to sleep.  Instead, I snoozed, got up and got ready.  I vaselined my toes, glided any place that may chafe and was out the door by 4:30.  I had one thing freaking me out.  After talking to Tori and everyone else about my stomach issues, she mentioned trying an immodium.  I could not find it for the life of me, I bought it specifically for this run.   Once I got to my car, I found it!  I was so happy!  It is the little things like that in life.  

At the park, I put all my gear on and ventured out for my run.  I kept gong back and forth on the route I wanted to run because I wanted to make it back for the TEAM.  This totally kept me going because I was thinking about something other than the pounding on my feet. The run started off pretty well, just a bit of quad pain.  It was dark, which I loved.  I love running in the dark because I cannot see my watch, I can't see how far I have gone, or how far I have left to go.  At the 4 mile marker I turned around to head back to the start.  I wanted to get about 8 in before meeting TEAM.  It worked out perfectly.  They had 14 on the schedule.  After meeting up, I was still feeling great!  I would run 2 then walk for a few minutes because I know I will be walking through the water stops in NY.  

8-13 were just fine.  I fueled with Honey stinger chew every 4-5 miles.  I started to want to shoot myself about mile 14.  Not going to lie, mile 15 I tried a powergel.  I have had them in the past, but knew I was 2 miles from a bathroom and had immodium in me so I can be "risky".  I was still walking and running.  The walking started to happen more frequently, but was still maintaining a pace I wanted.  I saw Kat around mile 16 which was a boost I needed.  She is training for Ironman in Panama city.  I saw her, and forgot to turn my watch back on.  It was off for about a mile so you will see that my watch says 21 miles.  Misty and I kept at each other.  Mile 19, Yup, wanted to shoot myself again.  I told myself I can walk it and will rock 20-22.  And that is what I did.  I encouraged myself by setting markers to run to, or minutes to run.  I knew after this, come race day, I would still have 4.2, I would have bridges to climb up.  I wanted to be as best prepared as possible.

I hope I didn't bore you too much with that!

After 22 miles, my coaches were waiting for me!  It was a bitter sweet feeling because I didn't get to celebrate.  I headed straight home to get ready for a bridal shower.  This was my second longest run ever.  The only longer run I had was my Marathon last year.  

It is not Monday night, I still cannot walk like a normal human being.  I say "ouch" every time I walk up or down the stairs, sit down, or attempt to sit on the toilet.

I ran 22 miles, please take a moment to donate your morning coffee to help find a cure for caner

Genna's Fundraising page

Marathon Training: Long Run: 13 Miles

So, This post may be a little late and I am going to keep it very short..

Last week I had a 13 miler.  It's Taper Time guys!!

It was down at Ballast point, so I did my friday night routine, got up Saturday ready to Rock N Roll.

It was very nice and was very relaxed after having Friday off :)

So.. It was time to start going and it was dark (6am) and FREEZING for us Floridians!! It was about 55 degrees when we started.  I had no idea what I should be wearing.  Pants, Capris, shorts, Tshirt, Tank, long sleeves?  I was a deer caught in headlights so I brought a change of clothes if I needed.  I wound up wearing a Tshirt, shorts and a long sleeve over..I didn't start to warm up till mile 9 when I was headed back in the direct sun.

It was a very nice run minus the wind..Boy was it windy along Bayshore.

I wasn't really watching my pace, I didn't really care.. and when I did look about halfway though I was shocked.  Mostly because I looked at my pace the night before from my first 4 miler.  I was right under 13 minute miles, which most people walk faster than me.

So I was determined to keep up a good pace.  And when I say good, it is all relative to the person.  I was never a runner and just got back into running in June, so it has been 5 months I have been running fairly consistently.

At mile 9ish I was rocking an 11:18 pace

It got a little slower after that as it began to warm up, I had to go against the wind, and I did not realize that the wind can really affect you.

SOOOO... I finished up my 13 nice and strong.

Team In Training has a nice potluck waiting for my fat butt.  I ate some pretzels and drank some water then went back out to bring in Nicole.  We finished the last half mile together.  We started out first day of training doing 2 miles and we finished with a lot more.

We took our picture, talked a bit and when on with our day.

Nicole and I :)

Well, I am not going to go into my crazy weekend of weird events.  But I am wishing you all a happy weekend and happy halloween

Now here is my question for you.. 

How long did it take you to get reach your ideal pace? or

 Start to see a difference in your time?

Marathon Training: Long Run: 20 Miles

Yes, you heard that right.. 20 miles! I did it and I can still walk.  Well, sort of :)


As per my Friday routine, I carbed up and hydrated throughout the day.  It was a very crazy friday at school as I had to call the Assistant Principal to my room, my kids were off the wall and the stress of observations and the end of the marking period is certainly getting to me.  (I have an observation Thursday and was just told I had another one the following week.. as in I just got an e-mail a few minutes ago).  With that, I need to prepare lessons for the three days I will not be at school while I am running my little heart out in Savannah.


So, Friday when I got home I made some delicious brown rice pasts, watched T.V, packed my bag for the morning ( I forgot all forms of ID, Money, Credit Card, etc. this time) made my peanut butter sandwich, charged my ipod and Garmin, made sure I had clean clothes, set my alarm and it was off to bed for me.  With all that was going on I had a little bit of trouble trying to sleep, but I made it to bed by 10 and was up at 4:30 for a 5:30 start time.


As oppose to my last long run when I was supposed to do 18 miles, this time I was mentally there!! I was ready to get these miles done! I knew I could do it, I also knew it was all downhill from here:) 


As always, I ate my sandwich in the car, hydrated, got all ready and met with Lyle before the rest of the TEAM got thee since I was doing slightly more miles.  Lyle and I ran and chatted for about 3.5 miles outside the park then I did 1.5 outside before heading inside for bathroom stop #1.  It was just a few minutes before 7 and I got to the potty right before a line started to form.. BINGO:)


6 miles were down without a problem, I was keeping a decent pace and I was not dwelling on it, I didn't care how long it took me.  I figured it may take me about 5 hours.  


At mile 7 my pinky toe started to hurt and get irritated so at the mile 8 water stop I took my shoe off and found nothing.  It felt as there was a rock in it or something.  I was very concerned at this point but kept on trucking..Then onto the mile 10 water stop! I was feeling fine, I couldn't believe how far I came.  At mile 10 I felt as i could go on forever and decided to take a power gel thingy.  I knew there was a bathroom about 2.5 miles away incase it upset my stomach.. Yup.. I am pretty sure these things go right through me, but luckily, I had to potty, but did not get sick like after the GU.  


So, potty break #2 done!! and 13 miles down after the walk back from the bathroom.  I ran a little more around Flatwoods and I was like damn, now I have to pee.  But didn't think it would require another bathroom stop.  I only had 7 more miles to go.. The work ONLY.. Yes, that is a whole other blog post I keep meaning to write.  So I am running along, and running along and then I realize how bad I have to go to the bathroom, I kept looking for placed to run into the woods and go, but it is so swampy I would never make it over.  I got to mile marker 16 and it was so hard to drink water because I knew how bad I had to go.  It hurt to walk, it hurt to run.  I was pretty sure I was going to have pee come down my leg soon.  I tried to go into the woods and the first time I went about two feet and had prickly things in my shoes and socks and could not venture in anymore.  So back to running I went, practically holding myself.  Then I saw another muddy spot so I went it, made it in and went, but wow, the mosquito's were attacking.  I did my business and made it out with about 20 bites, but I was able to continue on.  


After potty break number 3 I was only about 1.5 miles away from mile marker 18 and I was still going strong.  My pace would slow and speed up, which it quite normal for me.  I saw KC a few times, waved and finally figured out who she was out there:) ( You should check out her blog because she is extremely inspirational and I learned about her through John and Jen)


Mile 18 water stop I saw a few runner and bikers, was chatting with some people and then it was ready to start again.  My body could hardly move at this point but I knew I still had it in me.  This was the longest I had run to date.  I walked the first .30 for mile 19 and then saw Lyle, I walked to him, we chatted then we began running.  Ugh, then we came upon the dam bridge and still managed to get over that.  We ran the rest of the way and made it to the end.  I hate you mile 20 and I hated mile 7 because I always find the first and last mile in the park is the longest, just the way the road doesn't curve and looks as if it goes on forever!! 


I did it, it took me 4:29:27 without counting my numerous bathroom breaks.


Now it's Taper Time!!!


My legs are sore today.  I knew when I finished yesterday I was going to finish 26.2


The little pinky toe I though had a rock in it actually was a blister which actually hindered my walking yesterday!

Right over the bridge.. About to begin mile 7 :)

20 days till RNR Savannah!!

Marathon Training: Long Run: 15 miles

This weekend was a 14 mile run at flatwoods park.  With that being said, Friday was a crazy day to say the least.  I did not leave work till 6:30 and still can't even imagine how many additional hours I will spend grading this week.  When I got home I made dinner, packed my bag for Saturday morning, made my bread and peanut butter for breakfast, made my smoothie and stuck it in the Freezer, picked out my clothes and was ready for bed!  Yes, I am lame, and I know it!  Friday one of my friends, Heather, came into town so I stayed up late to say hello when her and my roommate came back from dinner.  By late I mean I said hello, chatted for a few minutes and was back in bed by 8:40ish.

Saturday mornings alway come too quickly, it was 5:05 before I knew it.  It was up to the bathroom to get washed, dressed, hair pinned back, glided up, get my smoothie and into the car I was.  In the car came my breakfast of sandwich thins and peanut butter, water, and a Cliff GU- Strawberry flavored with caffeine.  I am not a fan of the GU's or anything that I need to run long distances, but I know I have to start trying them, and therefore I did.

Flatwoods Sunrise

It was 6:22 before we started running, and right before we got started, my Garmin beeped telling me low battery.  GREAT! and I have Polar in my gym bag for the gym which I went to get, then remembered I brought my gym bag upstairs the night before.

Deer at mile 4..First mile inside the park

We were off, 3 miles outside the park then 11 inside..Yes that equals 14 miles, you are correct, but the title of this post is 15..hmm.. I will get to that part shortly..Keep reading.

I enjoy running flatwoods a lot, for me, knowing there are water stations every 2 miles, gives me the motivation to keep going because I can stop shortly for a mini break.  The people there are so friendly, and stop and talk to you, and tell you to "keep going" or "you're looking good", and the scenery is beautiful, especially watching the sunrise.  I always see a familiar face.  This week was Andrea, who I trained with last year with TNT, and this year she is training for Chicago.

And then the bad part happened. (And NO, it is not this picture which was bad)

Hot air balloons welcoming us to a fabulous 15 mile run.

If you are grossed out easily, please stop reading.  

My stomach decided it should start cramping up around mile 7.75 and hurt so bad I had to stop and walk.  I knew I had to go potty.  I knew I was approaching the back entrance shortly and someone told me it was about .5 miles away from the water, it was .6, but I made it there quickly.  I didn't know if I should run or walk, and I made it just in time.  I was scared I was going to have to call my coach and have her pick me up at the back entrance.  I didn't think I could move, crouched over in pain.  But when I was done, I was a few pounds lighter, and there was nothing left in me:)  I was back to hydrating and on my way, or so I thought.  I ran about a mile or so, and started cramping again.  I was just painful.  I was upset because as much as I wanted to run, my tummy did not want me to:(

That whole scenario added another mile to my run.

At mile 11, Teresa and Grace were waiting for me.  And unfortunately for all of us, it took us much longer than I wanted it to, we had to walk about 3.5 of the 4 miles because of my stupid tum tum.

Anyway, I felt good afterwards, it still took me under 4 hours, my Garmin did not die until mile 13ish, and we had Panera for breakfast.

I still am unsure what caused the tummy issues, I have always had stomach problems, I do not know if everything just wanted to come out then, eating breakfast or eating a GU?

Thoughts?  Ideas?

Anyway, that was my run, I had a great day seeing friends

Marathon Training: Long Run: 17 miles: Getting your head in the game

Getting your head into the game I found to be the most important part of training for a marathon, or anything for that matter.

I am currently training for my first full marathon.  I will be headed to Savannah, GA for the Rock N Roll Series with Team in Training.

My goal: Completion.  I have no time goal set, even though I would like to finish in under 6 hours.  I laugh thinking about how many hours I will be running and how many meals I would normally eat in that time period.. Yup, I like to eat:)

After last week's (AMAZING) 14 miler I was so scared and dreading 18 miles.  But I got up at 4am and headed towards Bayshore Blvfd. for a 5:30am start.  For all you non Floridians, it's hot down here.

My biggest mistake this week was talking myself out of it!  I did not want to be there for the run, I was hoping the weather would cancel the run.  It I would have talked myself into running, I believe it would have made life a lot easier.  Getting your head into the game is something I have to learn to do, think positively.  That is my goal:)

On Friday night I packed my bags, even made breakfast (I managed to eat half of it, as I am not a morning eater but apparently I need to learn to fuel 'cause I will hit the wall early).  I walked out the door and saw it was raining, boy was I annoyed.  I passed some lightening on my drive, hydrated as well.  When I got to Bayshore it was NOT raining.

Sunrise Along Bayshore

It was time to begin my longest run to date.  It was a rough morning.  I think I talked myself out of it all week, that I wasn't going to be able to finish and how much it would hurt.  Well it did hurt, and I did finish (well, 17.1 miles) .  By mile 8.5 I was done for, I wanted to stop, I didn't want to keep going.  Luckily, it was out and back so I had no choice.  At mile 11.5 I ran into Jessica again and she got me through the next mile, and actually pretty quickly.  We ran over a bridge and on the way back the operator told us they were opening, it would be a while before we can get back over.  It was perfect as we were just headed back.  After mile 14 I walked and jogged and walked and jogged.  At mile 15 my coach Teresa found me and we jogged and walked back. 4 hours later we were finally done.

Getting ready for a weekend of Rememberence

I was so happy to be done!! Not because I accomplished my longest run, but because my body didn't want to go any further.  When it was nap time later that day, I kept waking up because my toes hurt so bad and to be touched by the sheet.

Here are some pictures snapped by other teammates that I "borrowed".

Steel beams from the World Trace Center

Happy Running.