1. I have half marathon #2 on Sunday. I'm keep oscillating between being extremely nervous and excited. I've managed to freak myself out a few times but ultimately I know it's going to be a great race. Not looking for a PR, just looking for a spinning medal. Yup, 13.1 Atlanta has a spinning medal.
2. I was looking at my calendar for October, and I am a busy girl. I have a few photo shoots, one of them being on Sunday in the late afternoon after the race in fact. I have races lined up for 3 weekends in October, I might drop the Run Like Hell 5K if it feels like it's just too much, although I am really looking forward to doing this race with my dear friend Brooke. We were planning on super awesome co-ordinating costumes, we both want to win the costume contest.
3. This group teaches another type of dance fitness, and when I grow up, I'd like to be able to move like them.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Back In Business!
I'm no longer feeling like death...SCORE!!! You know what that means? I'm back in business, and back on track with training. Monday was the first longer run since I got sick, I had 8 miles on the schedule. I had K join me for this run. It was slow and it was tough but I was pretty jazzed about being out at it again.
Then Wednesday, I had 14 miles. I was so worried about this one because it had been so long since I had covered that kind of mileage. I'll be honest, it was TOUGH. As always, the first 4-5 miles are hard for me, I usually get into a good groove between miles 5-10 and this was the case with this run as well. Last long run, I resorted to some silly mind games to get through. The funny thing about this run was that there were some shirtless dudes running and little did they know, they pulled me along for a while. Is there anyway, these guys want to slow down their pace a little and come with me to my next races? Maybe I should ask. I got the miles done, and on the way home, I stopped at a gas station and picked up two bags of ice. Oh yeah, I took an ice bath, and I liked it. I've done this before and I might be a freak of nature but I like the ice baths, yes, you read that right. Getting in that tub is tough but those 10 minutes in the ice bath are sort of glorious.
As for Friday and Saturday's runs... they were a struggle. Friday, I was dragging after having taught my class. Saturday, I was just thinking about everything except the run and my head just wasn't in it. The funny thing about not having my head in the run is that, later that afternoon I went to pick up my race number for 13.1 Atlanta next Sunday. Yup, I'm back to racing too and October is going to be a busy race month for this girl. See, I'm back in business!!!
Then Wednesday, I had 14 miles. I was so worried about this one because it had been so long since I had covered that kind of mileage. I'll be honest, it was TOUGH. As always, the first 4-5 miles are hard for me, I usually get into a good groove between miles 5-10 and this was the case with this run as well. Last long run, I resorted to some silly mind games to get through. The funny thing about this run was that there were some shirtless dudes running and little did they know, they pulled me along for a while. Is there anyway, these guys want to slow down their pace a little and come with me to my next races? Maybe I should ask. I got the miles done, and on the way home, I stopped at a gas station and picked up two bags of ice. Oh yeah, I took an ice bath, and I liked it. I've done this before and I might be a freak of nature but I like the ice baths, yes, you read that right. Getting in that tub is tough but those 10 minutes in the ice bath are sort of glorious.
As for Friday and Saturday's runs... they were a struggle. Friday, I was dragging after having taught my class. Saturday, I was just thinking about everything except the run and my head just wasn't in it. The funny thing about not having my head in the run is that, later that afternoon I went to pick up my race number for 13.1 Atlanta next Sunday. Yup, I'm back to racing too and October is going to be a busy race month for this girl. See, I'm back in business!!!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
The Fun and Not So Fun Runs
It's been ages since I've updated the blog. First, I went out of the country, then I got sick, which I am almost positive is because of the flight. Of course, I couldn't just get a cold, nope, not me, I ended up with mild bronchitis. It's been trying both physically and mentally, and I had quite the epic pity party for myself. No worries, because now, I am very slowly but surely starting to feel better and no more pity parties. I even managed a little run yesterday, nothing too epic but it's better than nothing, the lungs were still not feeling 100% but at least I didn't feel like total death. Hoping to be feeling 100% ASAP.
I've got a picture laden post from the trip to Nicaragua that I will share with you all tomorrow. We all had a fabulous time and I am glad that we all got to go and everyone enjoyed the trip. I was so worried about B and Patrick because it was their first visit, but I had nothing to worry about at all.
Here is the post I wrote and never posted before I left...
Fun and Not So Fun Runs
Monday August 29th was long run, and it was another mileage PR and it was also probably one of the most difficult runs I've every done both physically and mentally.
Miles 1-5 - K joined me for the first 5. It was nice to have company to get things started, and to make it better, the weather could almost be classified as nice.
Miles 5-10 (aka- The Rockstar Miles) - These five seemed to fly by. I took a completely different course than I am used to and it kept the run fun and interesting. The path I took, had me passing one of the golf courses in town and it all looked so serene it made me consider giving golf a shot again, then I realized that I had only ever tried golfing once before and it was a disaster. Hey, at least the view was very pretty.
These rockstar miles happened to be some of the most entertaining. How, you ask? Well, I'll tell you, I was playing some down and dirty tricks. I added a Lucy spin to some of the tricks that are mentioned in Jeff Galloway's Mental Training book. One of them involves you pretending to sort of lasso the person in front of you with a rubber band and have them pull you. I had no one in front of me, so I got creative and pretended that there was someone in front of me. Now, I couldn't leave it at just that, I had to pretend that the person in front of me happened to be some sort of gorgeous male model, who loved to run, and happened to be shirtless. Don't judge, it's what helped me rock out those miles, and for the record, I was laughing to myself as I was imagining this scenario. I used some other tricks I'd read about but the rubber band lasso thing with the shirtless dude was by far the funniest.
Miles 11-16 (aka the Anti Rockstar miles) - THEY SUCKED! Did you get that? I cried, I questioned myself about why I even wanted to do the marathon. I was hating everything and everyone. I was so glad when it was over but I was a total bitch the rest of the day.
Then there was redemption run, it was 7 miles and I did have my leg and knee bother me a little but it didn't stop me. SUCCESS! I had some good music going, a pace goal, and things to get done that kept me motivated and moving. Sadly, no shirtless guys to play mind tricks on myself, so I had to resort to focusing on all that other stuff. In all seriousness, it felt good to run and not feel defeated by the legs and knee pain.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Homeward Bound
I'm on a plane on my way home from a weekend trip to Nicaragua. I have a post about last week's training, and an another about my trip. I had fun but I am glad to be heading home.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Hitting The Trails
I posted about doing my first trail run here, and I am sure you were wondering why I would do that. Well, the wonderful people from The North Face Endurance Challenge contacted me and gave me the opportunity to participate in their race that's coming to the Atlanta area in October. I'll be honest with you, it definitely out of my comfort zone, but like I tell B all the time... "How do you know if you'll like something unless you try it?"So, here we go, I'm trying it and getting ready for The North Face Endurance Challenge 5k, I chose the 5K because this is my first trail race and I did not want to over do it for the first race. So, stay tuned to hear all about my new adventures in trail running.
Check out this video about the race.
Want to join me? Just click on the picture below and come join the fun, it's going to be an incredible race. You're not in the Atlanta area? Well, you can always come to Atlanta and join me, or check out any of the other races they have going on around the country.
Check out this video about the race.
Want to join me? Just click on the picture below and come join the fun, it's going to be an incredible race. You're not in the Atlanta area? Well, you can always come to Atlanta and join me, or check out any of the other races they have going on around the country.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
I Don't Hate Running
So, I've decided that it was the anger talking yesterday when I said that I hate running. I actually love it, I know, I think I am some sort of masochist. Someone was talking about running before my Zumba class this evening and I perked right up, and I could have sat there and chatted with her if I didn't have a class to teach. I realized right then and there that I really do love running, and my ranting and complaining yesterday was mostly due to the fact that I was a Bitchy McBitcherson yesterday.
So, since everyone is in bed and I have a run in the morning, I decided to make a new playlist. I went to jog.fm and looked for some inspiration. The funny thing is that I had all of these songs in my collection, I just needed to have my mind jogged a little (no pun intended). Check out what I came up with, it's pop-tastic, old, new and in between.
So, since everyone is in bed and I have a run in the morning, I decided to make a new playlist. I went to jog.fm and looked for some inspiration. The funny thing is that I had all of these songs in my collection, I just needed to have my mind jogged a little (no pun intended). Check out what I came up with, it's pop-tastic, old, new and in between.
Do you have a pump up song? If so, what is it?
The Good, The Bad, & The Badass
The Good
Friday, I finished my very first trail run. I'll have to be honest with you, I didn't think that I would enjoy it at all, but I had a blast. I thought it would be the perfect place to test out my country music playlist, ok, it was just a lot of Taylor Swift and some Dixie Chicks (don't judge, I don't care about their politic views, I just liked their music). Anyways, check out the run in pictures. |
| Love that this is right here in PTC, it was conveniently located on the way home from my Friday morning Zumba class. |
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| Overly dramatic reaction - "Oh my goodness, I can't believe I'm actually going to do this." |
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| Here we go... |
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| Came across this, it was so serene |
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| Trotting along trying not to trip and fall flat on my face. |
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| One mile down, and I haven't broken anything. |
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| When I saw this, I knew I was almost done. |
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| Who was rocking out to some T-Swizzie and finishing up her first trail run? This girl! |
The Bad
Last Week's Speedwork - I had a bad workout and I couldn't do the workout as it had been set out for me. I was having trouble keeping the pace and it was an all around mess. I got the miles in but it was not at the assigned speeds.The Badass
Monday was my very first run over 13.1 miles, I finished 14 miles and I didn't die. That being said, I had a few moments where I thought that I was going to drop, the heat and humidity were killer. K, whom I hadn't run with in a very long time joined me today for the first 11 of the run. I'll be honest with you, it was weird to have someone run with me again, I have been on my own for most of my runs this training cycle that I guess I'd forgotten what it was like to have someone with me. I enjoyed having some company but it also threw me off a little because K talks a lot, and sometimes the conversation wasn't always too motivating. Don't get me wrong, I love to chat during a run but yesterday just didn't feel right with K and the conversation was sometimes a little irritating. OK, I will admit that I was being a little unreasonable about the conversation thing, but this was after all an important run for me and I wanted it to be just right. Plus, I was in a bit of a mood when we started, so just add something else to the stink pile.
The weather during the run was pretty miserable, it was hot and humid, but I kept trying to remind myself that it will eventually cool down and not all my long runs are going to be this hot and sticky. I was sweating like a pig, and smelled like a garbage can after the first 3 miles, I still had 11 more to go, and I can only imagine the scent that the people we passed got to experience. As the run went on, I just got stinkier and sweatier. Oh yeah, and guess what I had again... CHAFING. I rushed through the chafe cream application and I learned a hard lesson about it. I will never again rush through the application process...OUCH. Also, I think it's time for different shorts, by the end of yesterday's run, they were irritating me. So, during the run I also had the hanging skin on my arm irritate and slap me a few times, it was like my own personal portable cheering section. Then, there were the knees and hips, they were definitely talking to me a few times during the run. Alright, let's cut to the chase, everything and everyone was irritating me, I was a crabby bitch.
Speaking of crabby, I may have blurted out some less than stellar things like....
- This is so stupid, why am I doing this?
- I hate running
- Why the f- did I sign up for a stupid effing marathon?
- Why is it so f-ing hot?
- This is the stupidest thing I've ever done.
Obviously, it was the heat and general irritation talking because 14 miles is pretty bad ass even if it wasn't pretty to get it done. I did have to walk a little more than I would have liked but I covered the miles and that's still pretty bad ass. You know what else is bad ass? ICE BATHS! I did the whole ice bath thing after the run, and it was an experience like none other. I set the timer, put on a sweater and plopped myself in the tub. Oh buddy, it was something else, but I think it was worth the discomfort.
The weather during the run was pretty miserable, it was hot and humid, but I kept trying to remind myself that it will eventually cool down and not all my long runs are going to be this hot and sticky. I was sweating like a pig, and smelled like a garbage can after the first 3 miles, I still had 11 more to go, and I can only imagine the scent that the people we passed got to experience. As the run went on, I just got stinkier and sweatier. Oh yeah, and guess what I had again... CHAFING. I rushed through the chafe cream application and I learned a hard lesson about it. I will never again rush through the application process...OUCH. Also, I think it's time for different shorts, by the end of yesterday's run, they were irritating me. So, during the run I also had the hanging skin on my arm irritate and slap me a few times, it was like my own personal portable cheering section. Then, there were the knees and hips, they were definitely talking to me a few times during the run. Alright, let's cut to the chase, everything and everyone was irritating me, I was a crabby bitch.
Speaking of crabby, I may have blurted out some less than stellar things like....
- This is so stupid, why am I doing this?
- I hate running
- Why the f- did I sign up for a stupid effing marathon?
- Why is it so f-ing hot?
- This is the stupidest thing I've ever done.
Obviously, it was the heat and general irritation talking because 14 miles is pretty bad ass even if it wasn't pretty to get it done. I did have to walk a little more than I would have liked but I covered the miles and that's still pretty bad ass. You know what else is bad ass? ICE BATHS! I did the whole ice bath thing after the run, and it was an experience like none other. I set the timer, put on a sweater and plopped myself in the tub. Oh buddy, it was something else, but I think it was worth the discomfort.
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