New Gear

Hey guys, so I got some new running gear which has made me quite a bit more motivated to go running. Funny how that works?? Unfortunately, I am rather sick at the moment and the last thing I want to do is go for a 13 mile run.

New gear = Aesics shoes, water belt, pink sleeveless shirt, Nike headband....i think that is all. All this stuff of course, is for the marathon. I think I will wear pants that I already own.

Sore throat - go away!!!!!! you're killing my motivation here.

How Important is training?

So, I am 2 months away from the chicago marathon. My longest run has been about 12 miles. So yeah, I am about half way there.

The closer I get to the day of the race, the more nervous I am getting about actually finishing it. This is one of those times I wish I had a super human power of being able to tell the future. Will I actually make it across the finish line? Will something crazy happen, like for instance, I fall down halfway through and tear something? Will I not be able to finish in the maximum time of 6:30:00 and have to hail a cab to the finish line?  There are so many outcomes that could manifest.

As far as my training goes at this point- i'll be honest. Its not the greatest. I am not as disciplined as I would like to be. For instance, last week I did my long run on Sunday, which was fine, and of course I was supposed to run Tues, Wed, and Thurs. Well, I only ran on Tuesday. I ran again on Saturday but ran alot less than I was supposed to because my ankle was giving out. As a matter of fact, I don't think I have gone 3 weeks in a row where I have really stuck to the training.  I totally underestimated how much time this was going to take out of my life.

That said, I am totally pessimistic about this. Of course I am going to show up on race day, but like I said, I have no clue how this is going to turn out.

It's pretty hard for me to admit the following, because it genuinely makes me feel like a failure. I started to Google research about people who did zero or minimal training before running a marathon. And actually, for those who are interested to know this, most of the stuff i read was fairly positive. There were ALOT of people who said they signed up the day before and did no training, and it was fine. Now, despite what I said earlier in this entry, i actually HAVE done some training and will continue to do so, despite the fact that I am not doing as much as I should be doing. If a good amount of people say they ran it with no training, I am fairly certain I can get through it with the amount of training, as little as it may be, that I am doing. I'm not justifying the shitty training I have done, only trying to assure myself that everything is going to be okay.

Dear Ankles, screw you!

So I was actually really pumped up for my 12 mile run today! I drank a ton of water and a diet Red Bull this morning and went for a run this afternoon. However my optimism was stalled by SORE ANKLES. Or something. I don't really know what's going on.

I had to stop every few minutes because I thought my ankles were going to give in and I was going to fall. I eventually just said "screw it" and stopped after 2 miles. I did some work on the elliptical, and tried running again. Fail yet again. I need to do some research on making your ankles stronger. Will post when I have a resolution.

blargh

damn I hate running. I haven't really been following my training. I am to a certain degree, but not like I should be. I am forcing myself to do the long runs, but have sort of been skimping the short ones. I hope this ends up being okay.

HELP!

Ok, well, shit. I feel like I hit a wall today. I went for a 6 mile run and walked atleast half of it. It really, really, really sucked. I feel like complete garbage. I dont know what went wrong.

Ive been mostly training on the tredmill, but today was a CLEAR indication I need to start doing it outside from now on unless its like, 1000 degrees out. Is this why I had such a hard time today? I did run outside a few weeks ago and it went fine.  I ran 9 miles last weekend on the tredmill, no problem.  I go outside to run 6 and I feel like my legs are just broken, or something.

I am upset. I dont have much time left to train. Its almost august and the race is in October. I am so god awful slow I just dont think i am able to make the 6 hour time limit with the marathon. What an awful day.  Please, let things get better and easier, please??!!! anyone????

Breaking 5

I am going to consider today a milestone in my training.  I ran 7 miles - surpassing the 5 miles that I had trouble breaking.

I think it was hard for me to surpass 5 miles because five is such a nice, round number.  Counting by 5 is so easy.  Things are rounded to 5 and multiples of 5. Having to run 6 miles, let alone 7 miles, just sounds ugly.

But my run today wasn't all that bad. Sure, I was bored out of my mind, but I didn't feel so bad once I finished.

Next milestone - 10 miles, next week. Eeek. 

hey boys and girls! Sooooo, I just ran 3 miles around my neighborhood. It has been QUITE a while since i went for a jog outside. I've been doing the tredmill thing lately because of the scorching hotness outside. Anyways, it felt GREAT, especially considering how miserable I felt the last time I tried to run outside (had shin splints or some B.S). So running outside definitely has its perks.  Tonight was the perfect night for outdoor running because the wind was just right - it felt like I had my own personal fan boy fanning me as I ran.  You just don't get that running indoors at the gym.  I also have come to the conclusion that I need to run atleast once a week outside to properly prepare for the marathon.  Running on a tredmill can be considered "easier" in some senses, because you have the tredmill pushing you along. I need more of a challenge (although this entire thing is a huge challenge for me, but whatevs!), and in a nutshell, tredmill and street running are very different.

I'm starting to get the feeling I will soon need some new running gear - something to hold my water and keys,  probably a new pair of shoes in a couple of months, new shirts and capris and headbands.  It's kind of exciting, isn't it?

Back on Track

So i took a couple months off of running (or being productive in general) because I had breast reduction surgery (which is  helping ALOT with my running). But I am finally back on track. I actually have been on track for a few weeks now.  The big race is exactly 16 weeks away, and I am loosely following the Hal Higdon training guide. By loosely - I mean I was supposed to run 6 miles two weeks ago, 7 miles the week after that, and I am actually only up to 5 miles right now for my long run.  Surprisingly, I'm not too worried. I am a firm believer in not pushing myself way too hard, because I have done that in the past and it only ended with an injury.  This does not I won't be pushing myself-  obviously I am. However, I plan on running 7 miles next weekend, meaning I will be somewhat up to speed with the training calendar.

I believe my biggest setback in all of this going to be a lack of motivation.  It's already hard mentally pushing myself, and I'm only at 5 miles. I am going to need a running buddy soon to keep me from getting bored on my long runs.

I'm glad to be back, but I've never been a huge fan of working out so the big challenge here is keeping myself interested in this whole thing.

NO PAIN NO GAIN

Well here I am again. Once again I have failed to blog on a regular basis. Oh well. To be honest, something was wrong with my IT band and I took a little hiatus from running. I was still working out, but just not running, like at all. It was extremely frustrating going to the gym, when I could barely jog half a mile.

But oddly enough, I did the Hustle Up the Hancock (witness exhibit A, to the left) and my leg didn't hurt at all. I went to the gym the next day and used one of those foam roller things, and the pain completely went away. OK, not completely. But I ran a mile and I had minimal pain in my leg. I actually just got home from the gym, and I ran 2.5 miles and I feel completely fine. I also used the foam roller again. ALLELUIA!!! If my leg pain is gone, my life is about to get SO MUCH BETTER. NO MORE LIMPING!!! I don't want to jinx it by overexerting myself, but I'm going to try and run atleast 3 miles tomorrow. YAY!!!

Its Official

I'm going to make this brief for now - but I signed up for the Chicago Marathon yesterday. It's scheduled for Oct. 7th. Training is started. eeeek!

yoga: beneficial?

I woke up extra early before work for no reason, and I actually have time to blog right now!! I did an hour long yoga class last night (which I have been doing every Monday) and then knocked out a mile run after that. I am not sure how beneficial the yoga is. It's not that I don't like it, but I can't help but feel it's sort of a waste of time. I also get very bored half way through and find myself doing the poses while daydreaming about last week's Jersey Shore episode.

A problem I've been having for a while is the pain in my upper left leg. I am not 100% sure but I think it is my IT Band. It's been hurting for a few months now and there's no way I can continue training for the marathon if this continues to hurt. I did some stretches I saw in a youtube video, and it temporarily fixes the problem (kind of) but in the long run, it continues to hurt. I am going to try using one of those roller things to see if that will help. In the meantime, I am going to take a break from the gym today because I have a lot of other things to do, i.e. fold laundry that's been sitting on my couch for 2 weeks.

I AM A HORRIBLE BLOGGER

Wow I NEVER update this thing! I've realized facebook is the only social networking I am able to keep up with and I pretty much have abandoned twitter, tumblr, and well, now this blog.. However I really would like to force myself to be a little more attentive.

I will admit I went through a bit of a hiatus with running, and I'm not sure if this is a good excuse or not, but it was 100% because of the weather. I started getting cold and I just wasn't into it. But the good news is, I joined a gym and have been running regularly. I can run about 3 miles at this point. While I am proud of my accomplishment, it pales in comparison with the 26 miles I am going to have to run in less than a year. I know I still have plenty of time (9-ish months) ...but damn. 26 miles is alot. But I knew that getting into this whole thing. duh.

In other athletic-ish news, I am doing the "Hustle up the Hancock" the last week in February and hopefully a 5K in March, followed by the Soldier Field 10 in May. These events are pretty pricey (which I didn't really realize until now) so I will hopefully do the Chicago Half Marathon and then call it a day before the full marathon.