running is mental

running mojo

=

back!


well kind of

i made myself run last night, despite dreading it all day

i was starving when i got home

but knew if i ate dinner, running would be but a distant memory

so i laced up my shoes, grabbed a handful of candy corn/peanuts (the best running fuel EV-R)

and i was out the door

the sun was still up, but the humidity had dropped compared to the weekend

i had mapped 5 miles around the neighborhood next to my own (it's bigger) using mapmyrun (and i was super paranoid of running on the "real" roads with the evening traffic)

but had told myself "maybe just get 3 in.  or maybe 4.  you don't HAVE to do 5"

and then i got in my zone and just thought about:

fall plans

how awesome certain songs are and how the right lyrics can just inspire you to run harder

if it's too early to get mums and pumpkins

who i'm going to choose for my football survival league week 1 (!!!)

suddenly i hear "1 mile" announced over my speakers

and i thought "that wasn't so bad"

and told myself "if you make it to the clubhouse you can take a walk break" (the clubhouse was roughly another mile)

i made it to the clubhouse, but instead of a walk break i told myself to try and make it to the downhill portion of my run

and i was there in no time

i zoned out some more - watching kids ride their bikes

thinking about how nice it will be when long sleeves are necessary for runs

and before i knew it "3 miles" chimed in over my headphones

i could cut off a portion of my run and head back home and i'd be right at 4 miles

but i was feeling good

at 7 o'clock most of my run was in the shade with the sun going down

and with the humidity down i wasn't feeling miserably sweaty

and honestly, i felt really guilty for missing my 5 miler (my longer run during the week)

so i kept going

just a loop back around towards the clubhouse and up another street - i always count down the mailboxes on this street starting at 10, i count them down as i run past

i was then heading up the last major hill climb before coasting downhill

i told myself i could walk part-way up the hill

but by the time i was halfway up the hill i decided it was just as easy to run to the top than it was to stop

and then i would run a short distance past my own neighborhood, before turning around and going into my neighborhood

one last victory lap around the pool and i was done!

5 miles (technically 5.25 including my warm up) done and on the books

95% of training for longer distances is making yourself run those miles you don't feel like doing

i know from experience, yesterday's 5 miler isn't going to make that much of a difference physically when it comes to running on race day or when it comes to completing my long runs on the weekend

but it makes a world of a difference mentally

being able to zone out, come up with things to think about, bribing yourself to make it to the next "milestone/pitstop" is what training is all about

and because i was able to beat those thoughts of quitting, stopping, cutting it short, not doing it all

made me that much more proud for finishing yesterday

and so i ate 2 mini reese's cups

yay! :)

weekend, workouts, and football

so

i started the morning out on the right foot

running shoes on

music ready

started my 5 minute warm up

and then i got those low belly cramps where i thought i was going to go potty right there in the street

instead of running 3 miles, as planned this morning

i did an awkward shuffle walk back to the house in the biggest hurry of my life

so i would not, in fact, poop my pants.

thank goodness it was still dark out.

i was able to get a couple of miles of walking in afterwards

but now i get to spend the rest of my day dreading running 3 miles in the heat.

i WILL get it done.

i just don't want to.

so let's go ahead and re-cap last week's workouts!

Monday: 3 mile run + ripped in 30 DVD
Tuesday: 3 mile run + ripped in 30 DVD
Wednesday : 3 mile run (and no dvd - back to back running days were getting to me)
Thursday: REST hallelujah! but i walked for a total of 3.5 miles and did the ripped in 30
Friday: 3 mile run on the hilly route! (and slacked on the DVD)

Saturday:  "long" run of 4 miles - i dreaded it all morning.  i took woodford out to walk and realized it was soooo humid.  i came in and sat on the couch texting bill (who was working) complaining about maybe just doing my run later in the day.  he basically told me to get off my butt and get moving.

by this time it was close to 10 am - i HATE running when the sun is already up -but it was overcast

i slowly put on my gear, and got my music ready

i wanted my 5 minute warm up to last forever

but before i knew it, it was time to run

and i was off

the overcast skies lessened the heat

unfortunately, not even a mile in

it started raining

my metaphorical dark cloud/bad mood had turned into a physical one

which followed me most of the 4 miles.

but actually, i love running in a summer rain shower.

it sure beats the heat! 

i just wish i had worn a hat so i could have seen better

i chose an out and back path - and i felt really strong

the first 2 miles i was running at a faster than normal pace and wasn't feeling heavy or tired

i also met a friend

he passed me, but whatever...

i was at my turn around point before i knew it!

and just so you know, i run in the country!  well, it's country for louisville

on this particular path i'm always saying hay to horses, and dodging trucks pulling trailers of horses.

the 2 miles back to the house weren't as easy - the rain had let up a bit and the sun was trying to come out = hot steamy humid mess

my clothes were soggy and wet

and in general i wasn't comfortable

i took a couple of walking breaks before telling myself to suck it up and get home to shower

so glad to have it over with for the weekend!

sunday: was a rest day - so that meant walking woodford while bill ran 5 miles

and then dropping woodford off at his cousins cooper and kia's (thanks kim and nick!)

so mommy and daddy could go see some bill's football

at the colt's stadium

it's a heck of a lot better than driving to buffalo!

i know it's only a preseason game, but bills won 44-20

and it was also promising to see some young talent so perhaps i won't have to watch bill pout every sunday this season

i also decided it was time i get my own bill's fan wear - this outfit just didn't cut it!

to recap

1. i ran
2. i did ripped in 30 some
3. bills win!
4. i almost pooped my pants this morning
5. i get to spend the next 6.5 hours dreading coming home to run

happy monday!

 

and so it begins

dang

monday again

but at least i get to share it with your lovely smiling faces

or glazed over, half-caffeinated faces

whatever the case may be

today marked my official start to half marathon training

3 miles accounted for

no stops

and even though it was an extremely slow 3 miles - i can actually say i had negative splits (faster each mile)

so boo-yah!

thank you couch 2 5k for laying a great foundation.

i'll be back for more tomorrow :)

the weekend was pretty slow go

which meant i had time to do a little bit of cooking

turkey taco meat over a sweet potato

and a cheesy zucchini lasagna (leftovers for lunch today!)

and i also ventured into my first day of ripped in 30



jillian is looking a lot more "done-up" for this series

but dammit if she didn't hand me my ass

not going to lie - i thought coming off of level 3 of the shred would mean week 1 of ripped would be a nice easy change of pace

wrong

it was just as hard

and i sweated buckets.

jillian recommends doing the workout 5-6 days a week, so even though i had planned to do this every day, i may think about skipping it on saturdays (my long run day) once the miles start adding up

we'll see how i feel

i also took "before" pictures and will share the comparison the first of september

and because i have a doctors appointment this friday i figured i'd go ahead and do weight + measurements

ok.

monday.

let's do this.

ps - i get to do something fun on the blog soon - announcement to come shortly-ish.

having a plan

one of the most important keys to sticking with anything

is to have a plan

whether you have fitness related goals, money saving goals, or simply get the laundry done tonight goals

you have to have an action plan in place

for me, everything always sounds great in my head.

wake up @ 5, workout

i'll eat healthy all day

and i'll come home and walk the dog.

however, if i don't set quantifiable, measurable goals

that plan in my head turns into

sleep in until 5:30, watch the morning news and do a few bicep curls

eat fruit and nuts for breakfast and then treat myself to ice cream in the evening - you know, for "following through"

and walking woodford just until he does his business before calling it a night

as they say - the best laid plan of mice and men often go astray

the best way i've found to get around this is to write that ish down!

being able to physically "check" something off gives me a great sense of pride and accomplishment

and maybe i'm just wired differently, but i can't consider myself a success if all items on my "plan" aren't checked off

with half marathon training starting in less than 2 weeks - and bill and i using 2 slightly different schedules - i knew i needed something more than just an understanding between the two of us that we're getting up and running in the mornings

we would be running into the issue of who would be responsible for woodford on which day (bless his heart, he cannot stand to see us leave him at home when we run and refuses to keep quiet about it)



and what is the other person doing on "rest" days - so there's no slacking!


woodford shouldn't be running more than 3 miles right now in the heat/humidity

and we each have a medium-long run during the week which is 3+ miles.

in the past we never made a clear delineation of responsibilities and someone either took rest day too liberally (it says rest day...but that means from running!  cross train or strength training is still important!) or someone was reluctant to run with woodford since it was their faster/longer run day

and you know what happened - we burnt out.  we non verbally decided it was easier to just give in to the problems instead of finding a solution and our training suffered and became non-existent

and i blame that on not having a plan - not setting who is responsible on which day

until now!

i took to my favorite half marathon training tradition

and busted out a simple calendar template in excel

i believe you can click on this and make it more easily readable

the above is a snapshot of july - i couldn't resist the urge to be able to start crossing off days right away :)

my schedule is in pink and bill's blue.

if we take a look at august


you can see how our schedules are much different

bill is following hal higdon's intermediate plan which focuses more on speed work

while i'm just trying to survive :)

and i've also added shaded fields which indicate who will be walking/running woodford that day

that way - when bill is working on speed work he's not having to fool with woodford

and during my mid week medium-long run i'm not confined to the neighborhood to run in circles (it's too dangerous to run woodford on the surrounding roads)

and since our long runs are on opposite weekend days - there's no worries.

i've mapped out the next 3 months to get us to race day

and i've made several copies.

because the other important thing to keeping a goal

is visibility.

i have one calendar pinned at my desk

and made several copies for home - one for the fridge, another for bill's office and probably one more to keep by my bed

seeing what i have to do the next morning, the next weekend, etc keeps me inspired

and encourages me to make smart decisions like drinking more water so my legs don't feel crampy, and going to bed early.

it's also inspiring to see those long runs on the calendar

i know i can't bust out 10 miles right now

but knowing by week 9 i will be setting out to do just that really makes me take these 3 milers seriously - knowing that i'm building a foundation.

and the biggest satisfaction of all

i seriously get some weird high from marking things off

i do it at work too..

ok, so maybe i'm just some weirdo who needs validation through crossing things off/out

but it works for me