10 Miles: Frustration Rears Its Ugly Head

Another mentally tough week for me, although it was nice to see the scale go down three pounds. I earned my five pound loss badge from FitBit.

Monday's two mile run was a full on disaster. I walked it all and was insanely slow. I stopped my Garmin at thirty-five minutes. I iced a lot more this week and was looking forward to my long run.

I woke up on Saturday and things were already going to crap. My water bottle tasted how my dogs smell, I forgot to defrost my Uncrustable and had to microwave it (helpful tip...don't do it) and I forgot to Body Glide a few lower body parts.

I got to Umstead and was in pretty foul mood. My husband and I had a argument about running injuries the other night and it was stuck in my head. I was distracted by that and the fact a woman about seventy passed me.......walking. WALKING. I slowed down to a walk because when I run angry, I push too hard and then I actually do get injured. I didn't want to risk it, so I slowed down. I got a second wind at six miles and put on my music. Stone Temple Pilots, Foo Fighters and Stevie Wonder got me thru the last few miles. At eight miles, I realized that I miscalculated and had to run out another half mile and back. I wasn't pleased at all. When I finally finished, I looked at my Garmin and it read 2:28:16. My goal was 2:15, I drove home frustrated and pissed off.

This weekend I thought about my running and how frustrated I got. Everyone has bad runs, but I have felt lately, that I've had more bad runs than good. My goal of a 2:30 half marathon is fading further away every week. I'm really going to focus on relaxing and enjoying running and be out in the cooler weather. I still have the dream of at 2:30 half marathon, but I think anything under 2:53 will make me happy as well. I just want to do better than my best time. I'm definitely going to have to work on relaxing and enjoying the run....a lot. I'm going to try really hard, but c'mon. Let's be real-haha!

I checked out a video of the Manchester City Marathon half marathon course and it's hilly. Hills are tough, but luckily they are rolling hills. I can handle those. I'm a bit concerned about the River Road section, but I'm happy that the last part is downhill.  I'm excited because the course runs behind my parent's house, which is pretty cool.

Last week's interview with Kasie was my highest viewed blog ever! I want to thank Kasie again for the great interview. In honor of the Carolina Hurricanes Opening Night, I have a interview with Pete Friesen, the Hurricanes Head Athletic Trainer/ Strength and Conditioning Coach coming up on Wednesday. 

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Never Give Up On Your Dreams

Hope you all enjoyed my interview with my coach, Lou Ann Bakolia. You can contact her at offtorun.com with any questions. I'm really enjoying putting together these interviews, but I am disappointed by the lack of women athletes. I only have one other woman on my interview schedule, all the others haven't responded or declined. I have contacted a few more, so hopefully I'll get a few more lined up!

I did struggle a bit mentally this week with running, but all in all it was a good week. In my head, I'm a way better runner than I actually am. This is good and bad. Good because I believe in myself and have confidence. Bad because I get disappointed easy because in my head I expect so much more from myself. I'm trying to tell my head that running is hard work and being overweight, it is going to even harder. To achieve those times I expect from myself, I have to lose weight. I remember reading that for every pound you lose, you can ran four seconds faster! With my weight loss at a standstill despite working my ass off, I have a lot of frustration.  I've been lifting weights and running since May, and no change in muscle tone or weight (except for a couple pounds here and there). I'm trying to stay positive, but but weekly runs didn't help my attitude.

Monday: 3 miles 40:47

Wednesday: 2 miles 28:10

Saturday I woke up and headed to Umstead to do my eight miles. I was surprised that I was actually chilly when I started, but I'm not complaining! All the humidity here has been a killer for me. I was not looking forward to this run because Umstead is TOUGH. It has tough hills and I usually walk them because you know, I might die if I try to run them. Well, Saturday I felt different and was determined to hit all my intervals (3:1) and I did! Sometimes when I was climbing those damn hills, I was pretty sure I was running in place, but I hit them all. As I got closer to the seventh mile, I wondered if I could run the last mile without the intervals even though I was pretty tired. Twice, I almost gave up, but I kept on. I finished in 1:47:44, beating my slowest eight mile time by thirteen minutes and my fastest by six minutes! For the first time in a long time, I felt validated for my hard work.  I will never be an elite runner by any means, but I'm not going to stop dreaming about it. I dream of getting stronger and faster. I dream of qualifying for Boston. I dream of running in NYC, Chicago, Maui...everywhere! I'm not giving up on my dreams, I'm just going to continue to work hard. Running is a privilege and I need to relax and enjoy the experience.

In non racing news, I finished my third rag quilt. Like Cher said in the movie Clueless, its "full-on Monet... From far away, it's ok, but up close, it's a big old mess".  I still need to practice measuring, sewing in a straight line, pretty much everything. I do love the fabric though! 

I'm spending the rest of Sunday relaxing, icing and watching football. My knees haven't liked me at all since yesterday's run, but my leg seems better. Jager's cataract surgery on Thursday, so we are looking forward to that. Oh, and check out my interview on Wednesday with the Mayor of Running, Bart Yasso!

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Triple Crown Series Completed!

It is official, I'm a Triple Crowner! This race was actually the best race out of the three, not bc of my time (which was the worst ever) but bc it was a super organized event and the volunteers were amazing. The course itself was great except for the the last half mile that was a straight up giant hill. It was no joke and Rachel and I were not impressed.

After the race, I actually feel pretty good. I think bc I stayed hydrated in that hot and humid weather.  I slept for about a hour and stretched while I watched "Spirit of the Marathon" while Matt had to go into work. He was nice enough to make me some taco dip for dinner after my hard race.

This morning, I woke up stiff but definitely nowhere near how I felt the day after my half two weeks ago. That race was brutal. I did some stretching and went for a short walk and I feel pretty good now. I also tried to use my new foam roller and that thing is pure evil. I haven't hurt that bad in a long, long time. My body was screaming at me, especially my calves. It is a brilliant invention, but it hurts, sometimes to the point where I feel nauseous. I have no doubt it will speed up my recovery time.

I'm still going back and forth about marathon training. I want to do one in November, but I really have to make the commitment. It is a lot more work than a half and I have to focus on cross training and eating a lot better. I'm hoping do more researching/reading on training and going to see "Spirit of the Marathon II" will help with my decision.

In other news, Jager needed to have four teeth extracted and was as drunk as a skunk afterwards. Matt had to carry him bc he couldn't figure out how to use his hind legs and he slept with his eyes open for awhile, which was super freaky. Thankfully, he is much better and tomorrow will be his last day on pain meds.

I'm pretty happy with my accomplishment and earning my medals. My times weren't fantastic by far, but I finished and that was my main goal.  

 

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A Nice Long Weekend

This weekend was nice and relaxing, I was glad to not do much since I have my final race of the Raleigh Triple Crown series on Saturday the 1st.

Saturday, Rachel and I met at Shelly lake and knocked out a slow almost seven miles. I felt pretty good and decided on a new pre long long snack....graham crackers and PB. I thought it was weird too, but it was super filling and I felt great. Our run was normal until we had to run by a huge, terrifying pack of geese. I'm not joking, I'm terrified of most birds. This picture doesn't do it's justice.

I spent the rest of the day watching hockey and thankfully, the Bruins pulled out a win to the eastern finals! Whoo hoo! The only thing that pisses me off is that Pierre will be on more and more nights. So obnoxious!

On Sunday, Matt started brewing his beer and it was interesting to see this long ass progress. It'll be weeks before it will be ready, but I will definitely try some.

Today, I babysat Miss Stella today for a bit and had fun playing with her. I even changed a diaper. I'm impressed as well! After, that I relaxed, read and watched TV. Matt made a great dinner for us, burgers and corn on the cob. Yum! 

In other exciting news, I finally paid off one of my student loans! I still have one HUGE one left, but it feels great to have one knocked out!

We signed up for a free month of Netflix, despite me loathing them, so we can watch Arrested Development. I can't wait to start the new season! 

I guess that's it for now! Next time I update, I should be an official Raleigh Triple Crown finisher! Wish me luck! 

  

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Two Down, One To Go!

I figured while I'm icing my knees again, I might as blog about the past week.

My parents came in on Wednesday and we had a great visit! We even went to the Angus Barn for an amazing dinner. Everything from the waiter to the food was fantastic. I even bought some crocks of their homemade cheese so we could enjoy it at home.

The NCRC Invitational was on Sunday and I'm not going to lie, it was TOUGH. I'm very familiar with the course since we train their all the time, but it was still tough. The humidity was near 100% and it was a bit wet. I was so wrapped up about the race that morning, that I forgot to stretch. OUCH! I'm still feeling achy and stiff today. 

My goal for this race was 2:45 and I wrote all my splits on my arm. I was doing fantastic until mile eleven and my I think my hip cramped or something so I slowed down to a complete walk and was cursing up a storm. Walking was NOT fun, super painful. One guy said to me as he blew by me, "Hey, pink girl (I was wearing a pink shirt)! I've been chasing you down for the past six miles! Get moving!" More cursing from me and more painful throbbing from my hip.

As I neared the end of the race, I saw Matt and mt parents and I started to run again. It actually didn't hurt while I was running which pisses me off even more bc I should've just ran the the last two miles. I didn't even think that running would feel better. I crossed the finish line around 2:55 and immediately fell on the side. I didn't know if I wanted to vomit or fall down, luckily for everyone I just fell down and shoved some graham crackers down my throat.

I'm still not super impressed with my time, but considering the hills and the humidity, I don't think I did all that horrible. I would've loved to know my time with a fast and flat race. Bottom line, I finished and I have one more race in less than two weeks and I will have completed the Raleigh Triple Crown series. Check out my pics, and yes, I'm aware my uniboob is ridiculous-haha! 

I will admit that I was disappointed by the medal, it is the smallest one I have and this was the toughest race I've done! After the race, we had a nice cookout with my parents and our friends. Everyone thought the food was great, Matt did a fantastic job grilling! 

Anyway, so that's about it. I'm very much looking forward to closing out the Raleigh Triple Crown Series and taking a bit of a rest. I will end my blog with a rainbow Dad and I saw yesterday in Garner.

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Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day, everyone! A special shout out to my mom for being the best mom ever!

This week went pretty well. The main excitement of the week was that my friends and I got JT tickets at the PNC Arena! So excited, but bummed that it isn't til November!  

This week was the last training week before my 2nd half marathon of the Raleigh Triple Crown series. My week day runs went ok, my 5K time blows. I thought I was going to be at least 4 minutes faster than I was. Yesterday's long run was a disaster and a half. Unfortunately, my running partner, Rachel, is injured and won't be able to run. I went out to Umstead and felt pretty confident. Well, I hit a wall at 2.13 miles. Yeah. My water pack chaffed my arm, bugs were EVERYWHERE, a snake scared the bejesus out of me, there was a crazy squirrel convention that creeped me out, it was humid.....urgh, the whiney list goes on and goes. I was as slow as molasses......8 miles in 2 hours. I'm tapering this week so, hopefully, I'll do a lot better on Sunday with rested legs. 

I think I decided on my first marathon and it is a fast and flat course in Huntington, WV. It's the Marshall University Marathon and close to Matt's parents house. We will see, 26.2 miles is a loooonnnggggggg run.

Jager is doing better, he has another glucose day test on Thursday, so hopefully his sugars are stable.

I'm looking forward to this week bc my parents are coming in and I'm excited to see them. I took two days off since they are coming in and I have my race. It's going to be a fun week! 

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Weekend Update

My weekend was pretty nice and relaxing. I've been really tired all week and eating all weird, so I decided to get my thyroid checked. I have been feeling great the past few months, especially since I've stayed on track with my Raleigh Triple Crown training.The past two weeks or so, I've been so tired, eating more and I have a taste for Cheez Its and McDonalds double dipped cones. No, I'm NOT pregnant, I think with my increased training my thyroid might be off.  

Our run on Saturday didn't go real well. Rachel tweaked her foot earlier in the week and it was really bothering her, so we slowed way down and only did nine miles. We have a tricky month ahead bc we have two half marathons that are two weeks apart. We have to make sure we keep up our endurance, but rest our legs enough.

The rest of our weekend consisted of going to get flowers and veggies for Matt's garden at Home Depot and watching playoff hockey. I LOVE playoff hockey and having one of my teams in it always makes it better. My major complaint is PIERRE MCGUIRE. He truly ruins every game for me. I LOVE Doc and Eddie, but Pierre is truly annoying. I wish there was a mute button for him......and that someone would punch him in the face.

This week Jager had to be dropped off at the vet for another sugar check and the vet told us that she was worried that he isn't responding to the insulin and wanted to run some blood work to make sure he didn't have a thyroid issue or pancreatitis. We were worried but thankfully, the blood work came back fine and was put on a animal insulin called Vetsulin. He started Saturday morning, and I don't see much change in him. He is still sleepy, mopey, and drinking a lot. I just hope my pup feels better soon.

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We Did It!

Race #1 is down for the Raleigh Triple Crown! I wasn't as nervous as I usually am and I think that's because there wasn't a big expo. It was very low key and our packet was a shirt, a bid and a coupon. The only thing that I was nervous about making sure my alarm went off at 4:15am....and a second one going off at 4:30am.

I got up and headed to Cameron Village and met Rachel. The race only 1102 people so it was fairly small. The race started promptly at 7am and we headed out. The first couple miles are never fun for me at all. I don't usually feel comfortable until five or six miles in. The first half of the half sucked, it was super hilly. The parts that were on the Greenway were beautiful....... except for the millions silk worms we had to run through. It was like an obstacle course trying to get through them all.

It was a tough race, but we got through it. We didn't have a great time and sure, we came in 1089/1102 but we finished and we are uninjured!

Our next race is May 19th and then June 1st, and I think we will be ready. I'm sore but not super sore and only got one blister. I ate and drank enough through the course and didn't have any stomach pain. All in all a good race! The medal isn't my favorite, but it is a great addition to my collection. This was my 7th half marathon since 2009.

This week I got my best times ever for a mile and two miles and I was super excited, even with the nasty pollen everywhere and sore knees! 

In other news, Jager has diabetes and we have to give him eight units of insulin daily. The diagnosis came as a shock to be honest, I thought he just had a UTI. He was drinking tons and peeing all the time. He also seemed to be restless and never could get comfortable. He has had four shots and we already can tell he feels better. Matt gives the shots really well, but I have a hard time doing it quick enough. It'll just take some practice. 

So, that's it! I'm taking it easy running wise this week but then I have the Angel Among Us 5K on Saturday, so I'll be back on track! Have a great week! 

  

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