One Week to Go!

One week from now I will be lined up in the parking lot by Mandalay Bay getting ready to run the Rock n' Roll Las Vegas half-marathon.  Excited to get there, excited to run, REALLY excited to have it over.  Hoping the sore back, head, throat, etc., are a result of not sleeping so well lately and NOT because I am getting sick again!

Cheap Trick will be playing to get us pumped up at the start...I am sure between them, the Vegas atmosphere, and the running Elvi - it will be an exciting and energizing environment. Suddenly a week seems like such a long time.  I'm half packed already...Training is practically done.....I am ready... LET'S DO THIS THING!! 

And So It Begins...

I was hoping Mother Nature would take pity on us and hold off for another month...but no such luck :(  Today, exactly one month before the Rock n' Roll Las Vegas Half-Marathon...this is what's happening outside:

Ugggh...Snow.  Ok...I KNOW I live in Canada. I KNOW it is November and this is FAR from unusual...but I was really hoping for a miracle and that we could continue training in dry conditions. I am ok with running in the snow when we get back..but so not looking forward to trudging through snow for 19km in a couple weeks...

Sigh...

I know...I know....suck it up, princess....

Wanna see my blisters?

Running sucks!

Ok...maybe I don't REALLY mean that...but this half-marathon training is killing me.  My body (uneven hips and all) is not built to endure long-distance runs it would appear....and it is letting me know it.

In addition to the back, glute, hamstring pain I'm dealing with while running double-digit km's I now have some lovely blisters... Blisters that I have photographed and will show to anyone willing to take a look.  Not sure my point in doing that...do I need to show that I'm tougher than them?  Maybe it is because people can't SEE the other pain I'm in...so this is a little bit of tangible proof that I'm suffering?  Who knows..  But whatever my reason - here's a little blister love for you too:

(Excuse the very old remnants of nail polish!  Hey...I'm an athlete in training! I don't have time for luxuries like pedicures!!)

Three Weeks Down....

...and NINE to go!  Yikes!

Last week the thought of 9 more weeks might have been enough to bring me to tears.  Running was HARD again.  Things hurt.  I lost my mo-jo.  I just wasn't into it....at all.  Totally regretted signing up for the half, totally regretted our training plan, kinda regretted I ever started running.

Then I had a good run.  Yup, that is all it takes...  I quit trying to get the fastest time I could and just started running.  And it felt good.  Better than good.  It re-invigorated me.  I am back to enjoying running.  I am actually LOOKING FORWARD TO our longer weekend runs!  11k next Saturday!  Whoo Hoooo!  Bring it on!

Let's hope the next 9 weeks of training keep pumping me up and the lost mo-jo days are behind me.  Temporarily at least.  They'll be back.  Post-race let-down and all that.  In December.  Shouldn't be too hard to re-find my desire to run in December right?  Snow, ice, dark, weeks and months of freezing temperatures ahead.  Oh well....TODAY I had a good run....so, bring it!

Anal AND Annoying

Sooo, if you read the comments on my blog you will have seen that one friend recently requested a blog post about how anal and annoying I am!  Now, SOME people might consider a comment like that rude...or at very least a little judgmental...  But you have to KNOW this friend...then it is just FUNNY.  What makes it even funnier is how monumentally true it is!

I AM anal....and it IS annoying!  But I'm ok with that.  It hasn't always served me well in ALL areas of my life.  I have control issues (my son can attest to that) and my need to control things did neither him nor I any favours when I was raising him.  My control issues also make me a bit of a psycho because I have irrational fears of pretty much anything out of my control (which includes most of the world!).  So, what was I saying about being ok with it?  hmmmm...

Oh yah!  I am ok with it because in some cases it works well for me.  And since this is a running blog...it has served me especially well with running.  I started running with the Couch to 5K program.  I listened to a podcast which told me when to run and when to walk and when to stop.  It was perfect for me.  I knew what to expect each and every time I ran and stopping wasn't a question... I had to do what I was being told to do (which drove this same friend insane when I got to the point that I was willing to run with her...I still remember her ready to kill me because we were on a downhill and she wanted to take advantage of it and start running...but my podcast hadn't given me the go-ahead yet.  Still surprised she didn't shove me under the next passing car). 

When I finished the Couch to 5K I then went on to the Gateway to 10k, training for the Bloomsday 12K and then began a routine of running every second day.  It is not an option for me.  Weather doesn't matter.  The "rule" is I run on running days.  I don't see it as an option...and while people think I am insane - I am training for a half marathon... If I had given myself the option to quit - if I didn't follow the plan in a hugely anal, annoying way....I would have quit...long ago.... I know it.

I have gotten slightly more relaxed about my routine.  Recently, I cut back my lunch-time workouts to only 2 days/week instead of 5 (though I still go to the gym for core work and stretching those other 3 days) and though I am following a new training plan I have given myself a little bit of leeway with it.  Today was to be my long run day (though only 8k) and tomorrow an easy 4k... But I had signed up for a 10k which is tomorrow so I did my short run today and will do the 10k tomorrow.  Just like that...I changed things up!  Like a crazy woman!! 

But after that...it's back to my schedule, back to my routine, back to being anal and annoying....because anal and annoying keeps me running!

First Week....DONE!

Done my first official week of half-marathon training.  Made one mistake - thinking Friday was a cross-training day, not a rest day...so did a 8.5k walk that I didn't need to do...  But oh well...

Struggled through both the Thursday and the Saturday run, though.... Began to suspect that perhaps working out hard in the gym 5x/week in addition to the running and cross-training required by our program might be a bit much.... So, I consulted the experts....on Twitter...I mean, where else would you find experts when you live in a small town with no real obvious experts to consult?  One of them is author and Runners World contributor, Bart Yasso - so, really....he knows his stuff.

So, the consensus of my Twitter experts was a resounding YES....I am doing too much :(  Both said circuit training 1x/week is the most I should be doing (that was before I fessed up to the spin class starting this week).  Soooo....I am not willing to give up my workouts entirely....but I am going to give in a little.  Monday and Friday's are official rest days...I am going to only do some stretching and core work those days and Wednesdays.  Running will be Tuesday/Wednesday, Saturday/Sunday.  On Tuesday and Thursday (likely??) I will workout in the gym....but primarily on upper body.  Thursday I will also do spin class (which is my official cross-training day, anyway).  Hopefully taking it easy 3x/week at lunch will help my body to better deal with the training to come....and perhaps will let my groin issues improve somewhat as well.

Next weekend is supposed to be an 8k run on Saturday and a 4k easy run Sunday...However, we're signed up for a 10k in Creston on Sunday...so the 4k will be Saturday, the 10k Sunday....and then after that...I should be able to stay on schedule...hopefully!

Hurry up December!  I'm ready for this to be done already!  The half-marathon is taking over my life!

Training commences....

We'll it's official...I am midway through the first week of half-marathon training.  Have to say...pretty anti-climatic so far.  Only one run completed at this point...and it was a 5k...much like every other early morning 5k we've been doing all along.  Won't be long before we're amp-ing up, however....so I should be grateful for the familiar while it exists...

Not doing so well with the whole 'rest' concept, however.  Monday was actually a rest day.  No running, no cross training... Yet, I spent my lunch hour doing squat jumps, plie squats, walking lunges, rowing machine, a bunch of core stability exercises and sprints on the treadmill.  Hmmm...perhaps not what was intended by the word "rest".  Oh well...will likely do the same next week.  And though I will be spending my lunch hour doing a different circuit training workout today...I'll also try to figure out 30-40 minutes of cardio to do...Because today is cross-training day :)

Running 6.5k after work tomorrow then another 6.5k on Saturday (sooo relaxed after a summer of 10k's) and an easy 4k Sunday...  Ahhh....  relaxing almost :)  In just a few weeks I'll be wishing for these days back, I'm sure :)

One Week to Go!!

One week from today will be our first "official" training run for the half-marathon.  Ok...so our first "official" run is only 5k... which is no different than any other weekday run at this point.... but still....it is the first day we'll be doing it as part of our "Advanced Beginner Half-Marathon Training".  Yikes.  Let the torture begin...

You MIGHT be obsessed if....

Ok yah....so the mould thing continues... The more that gets ripped out, the more there is to rip out.  Should have a totally new house by the time its done....Won't be able to afford to live in it...but new all the same...

The huge issue is the sore throat, headache and stuffy nose I've been experiencing the past few days.  All mould related I'm sure.  As I told a friend of mine today - "I start official half marathon training in 3 weeks...if it gets into my respiratory system and interferes with that I am going to be PISSED"!  "Oh", she said "So, who cares about your health in general - it's whether it interferes with running or not?". 

Huh...when did I become THAT person?...  Oh well...I'll still be pissed if it messes with my half!

One Month Until The Torture Begins....

One month from today we officially start our training program for the half marathon.  When I think ahead to a 19k training run it kind of scares the crap out of me....yet, in some ways - I can't believe we still have to wait another month.  It seems like we'll never get around to training.  Running has been going well for me lately and I just want to take advantage of that and train while the training is good.  Fingers crossed that it lasts!

Lucky Lucky Me

Every now and then I am reminded that despite any set-backs that may occur in life, I am a super lucky girl!  I am especially lucky to have some wonderful, supportive, encouraging and super cool friends.  Went for a great walk with Kyla today...not only was it a nice walk - but she is so freaking entertaining, you can't help but be in a good mood when you've spent time with her...

I kept talking about my running girls to her too....and she (being the awesome, supportive ultra-cool chick she is) commented on how great she thinks it is that I have these women in my life that are willing to do crazy things with me like Bloomsday, the Vegas half...and maybe, just maybe a duathlon??!!  I, of course, know how lucky I am to have them (both for the running support and for all the support in so many other ways!) but having someone else comment on it is a great reminder.

Everything else seems less important when I focus on just how lucky I really am!  Lucky lucky me!

Saw this quote today.  Totally reminded me of my friends today:  "A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success"