Labor Day Weekend, and Beyond. Catching Up.

So I have completely slacked on this blog. So much for my tireless discipline. My goal was to keep myself very, very accountable to my goal… and this was a vehicle, just like my training, to keep my head straight and organized.

But life happens. You get busy, you get distracted, blogging discipline falls away.

Internet access sometimes becomes an issue, and often there just isn't enough time left in the day. And so there it is.

So I'll try to catch up some…. doesn't matter really, this is for my own purposes really, and I have been (for the most part) keeping my training somewhat intact. I just haven't been writing about it.

So I left off right before Labor Day. The family and I packed up and drove south to Lake Gaston to spend a couple of days at a lake house with my husband's family. The house was beautiful, the weather was great (for the most part), and the kids had a blast. I was completely disassociated with the world with no internet or cell service. Overall it was a great experience.

I got some pretty good training in. I love training in new places, especially when I have to train alone. It can be nerve-wracking too, but it just invigorates my mind a little to have something new to look at when you're putting the miles down.

On day one I got up early for my Saturday long run. I called it my "Lake Gaston Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon"… in honor of the race taking place back home in Virginia Beach.

Got up at sunrise and set out with my Garmin and just followed the country roads. I decided I'd go about 6 and a half miles out and then turn back.

The view of the sunrise over the lake at about mile 4.

The run was "decent" but I had my issues. There were some hills, especially in the beginning, that made it kind of a tough start. It was very humid and warm already at 6:30 am, and I had no water with me.

At about mile 5 I stopped to take the above pictures. Normally on long runs I prefer not to take any substantial breaks, because it disrupts the endurance rhythm I'm going for, but I looked at the sun rising over the lake and I simply told myself "Do what you love because you love what you do." This wasn't a race and no matter what, I'd put the miles down this morning so take the moments to snap a shot or two. Now I can always look back to the images I saw on that run. And they were lovely. This is what makes running worth it.

I got 13-ish miles in that morning, and I was pretty proud of that. Given the elevation, humidity, and lack of hydration I was completely satisfied with my pace. I know my coach would like for me to be in the low 8's or high 7's for these, but this is where I am.

"Lake Gaston Half" splits.

I brought my road bike with me so the next morning I set out on a solo trek. It was an adventure for sure: no cell service or GPS, no sense of a route, and in a pretty desolate area of North Carolina. A year ago I would have never done such a thing. But I'm braver by the day on the bike and wanted to go, so I went.

The morning was truly spectacular. The sunrise was lovely and of course I had to capture the moments in images.

Sunrise over Lake Gaston in Littleton, North Carolina

Country road sunrise

A quick bridge stop to capture the scene

Here is how I would describe this ride: interesting (I got to see all sorts of images of "Po Dunk, NC" life: bait and tackle shops, trailers, shooting ranges, and lots and lots of run down churches), tough (the rolling hills were a challenge on my fatigued legs), and tougher (at some point during the ride a storm worked its way in and the wind blew in my face on the way back… luckily I didn't get caught in a downpour).

I got about 33 slow miles in… not too long, not too short. I went far enough to feel comfortable that I wouldn't get lost forever on desolate North Carolina country backroads.

After I got back I decided to try to go for a swim in the lake. I forgot my real goggles at home so my poor husband tried desperately to find me a pair, just to make me happy and support my training (and avoid the grumpy aftermath of me not getting a swim in). Not an easy feat out in the middle of nowhere in Po Dunk. But he found a cheap pair at the Dollar Store. And they were cheap. I took them out of their packaging, attempted to put them on and they immediately broke. So I had to basically tie the things together to get them to stay on my face.

I went for a swim. The water was murky brown and speed boats and jet skis were everywhere, passing close by to my left and throwing out pretty decent wakes that I had to contend with. I felt disoriented but swam down to someone's dock and then just turned back. I think I only made about 1500 yards. More than a sprint tri, definitely less than a half iron. When I got out of the water my rash guard was stained perfectly dingy brown.

Last morning there I needed another run so I was about to set out when my husband's cousin said he wanted to join me. I don't get a lot of company on runs anymore these days so I was happy to have a buddy.

We started out chatting on those hills but about a mile or so into it he fell back a bit and I kept a steady pace. We did about 7 miles. I remember that it was insanely humid. We both sweat buckets and had to jump in the lake afterwards to cool down.

So all in all a good weekend and some good training to boot.

Feeling ten years old.

So that was almost 3 weeks ago and a lot has happened since.

I got in to Boston. I'm going. The acceptance already came.

Still a long way off, the true work is ahead of me. I want to enjoy the race of course. And I know I will, er, I hope I will if nothing interrupts the training process and I keep myself strong.

That's just it. Keep myself strong.

Last year I thought I was strong. And I may have been stronger physically than I ever was in my entire life. But mentally I think I was weak and dependent, and this time I need to find it within myself.

My coach will be there, but as of this moment in the process he and I have not REALLY worked together. He has given me a plan. I try to follow it. I do the runs alone (most of them) and he and I have chatted minimally. He doesn't know me yet, and hasn't provided a whole lot of feedback thus far. 

I have accepted this as a pretty understandable circumstance… I am in a speed and base building phase and there really isn't much to say. I'm not brand new to running, and I'm not far off of where he planned for me to be. So what really is there? I'm sure as the event draws closer we will have more to discuss and tweak.

But it is my absolute HOPE and DREAM to be absolutely ready in April to make it memorable.

So I will continue to try to keep myself going and appreciate and savor the process.