These Days

Truth be told I am in a funny phase of training right now. A funny phase altogether, really.

The "in earnest" training for Boston starts after the holidays. I've downloaded two plans… one directly from the Boston Athletic Association's website and another provided to my friend Shelly a couple of years ago when she qualified. Shelly's plan is from Fleet Feet, and BAA's looks to be a little harder. I think I'll probably sit down with both over the holidays and decide between a happy medium between the two.

I want to challenge myself. I'd like to see where I can go, what I'm capable of.

But I also want to enjoy myself. My Team in Training coach reminded me not to go to Boston and not see Boston. He said he could picture me getting to the starting line, and once the gun goes off go into such a zone that I don't even see the sights around me. I know that could happen.

He said most people (unless you're a pro or a freak) work hard to QUALIFY, then show up in Boston to run the race just for the scenery and the experience of it, not to PR.

Well, I AM a freak, and I had my reasons for deciding to make Boston my big PR goal. But I'm starting to relax the reigns a little. I am just hoping that if I let go a little of the mental pressure while trying to stay disciplined, I have to trust everything will fall into its place and natural order. If I put the work in, I will do fine. If I stress, it's not worth it. It's always an endeavor to find a happy medium.

So… this weekend is the big 50K trail run. My approach is simple. Just take it easy, put one foot in front of the other, don't fall, hydrate like crazy, and make it to the finish line in whatever fashion my body tells me it can handle. I will start slow and finish slow, and that's a promise. I did a 24 miler the other day and was totally fine the next day. I'm putting no pressure on myself. I'm hoping to make it a  social run, and hang with some folks who will make the 5 hours pass easily.

Then… the holidays. As usual, I have not been very organized this year, and not all gifts have been purchased. Christmas cards have not been sent out. I am not Martha Stewart and never will be. That gene didn't make it into my DNA. For most of my life I felt guilty because of it. Slowly but surely, I am accepting that it takes all types to make this world go round, and pretending that I'm Miss Crafty-Cook is not gonna happen. And it's okay.

 We're going out of town, and attending a volleyball tournament. It will be hard to train, and hard to eat well. But I'm going to do my best and that is all.

When I get back, I plan to really and truly focus on the Boston journey. Starting December 29 the 16 week plan begins, and I'm ready with a good base. I'm also going to focus on my diet even more. Cutting simple sugars and complex carbs in bread and chips will be a big, big goal for me. It'll be hard, because my calorie burn will be revving up. Been down that road before and the cravings are wicked awful. Also with have the big rule of no alcoholic beverages during the weekdays at all, PERIOD. I will replace me stress management with yoga. Every day. I want to PROMISE myself these things. I have the discipline.

In the meantime, I continue to try to soak up this time, and appreciate all the moments. I am surrounded by beauty. There was a time in my life when I didn't notice. I was so immersed in the wrong things. I didn't get outside. I didn't move my body and breathe clean air. I put the wrong fuels into my mouth and felt a lethargy and fatigue that was so much my norm I never knew I could feel different.

This is 10 minutes outside my door. Not to be missed.

Sunrises remind me that there is always a chance for a better day than yesterday. Yesterday happened. It might have been great, it might have been bad. But here's a fresh start, and an opportunity for a great one again.

My tri buddy out on the road. It was ice cold and hard to ride. But the sunrise shot was worth the numb fingers.

View this morning on the run. Peace, bliss, serenity. Not to be missed.

The next three-four months will be very important to me for many reasons. It will be a journey to see what I'm made of and how I can handle the physical and emotional pressure. It will be a test of my fortitude, my resolve, and more. I hope I stay the course and not buckle. It's all in the attitude, the will.

And appreciate the opportunity. Appreciate all of it.

The Harbor Lights Half Marathon 2014

Nothing may be more frustrating than writing an entire race report on your phone app, only to lose all of it. Entirely. (Insert favorite expletive here). This race happened over two weeks ago now, and I wrote a pretty lengthy and detailed post about it, only to find it completely and absolutely DELETED.

I haven't had the time or mental fortitude to rewrite it. And I probably can't truly recount it like I did in that original post, but I have to believe that it's for a reason. Now I'll be short, sweet, and to the point.

So I ran a half marathon a couple of weeks ago. It was the inaugural Harbor Lights Half Marathon in Norfolk, Virginia: a scenic course that winds you the streets of Norfolk and along the edge of the Elizabeth River.

I met up with some of the members of our No Meat Athlete running group for a pre-race pic:

So… a few things.

First, I hadn't run this distance in an official race since March of 2013. I had to look back and verify that. Really??? My PR for the distance was about a 1:44… stupid fast for me at the time.

But I really felt the pressure to see how the past few months of training with a coach (for three months anyway) and a strategy (well… sort of a strategy) would reflect itself in my race performance.

The night before the race I engulfed myself in stressful thoughts of how I would do. How I would execute. Could I discipline myself to certain paces? Would I fuel and hydrate as I know I should? I was literally a hot mess of anxiety. Which in hindsight, I find ridiculous. It's not like I was after a bid to the Olympics. I just wanted to prove myself to… myself.

So as I stood next to Shelly at the starting line I recounted my inner dialogue.

And then the "gun" went off and I shot out of there like a cannon. Like the racehorse that responds only to adrenaline. Like an idiot.

Soooo…. within seconds my discipline turned into brainlessness, and I completed the first mile in 7:10… oh, only about a whole half minute faster than planned. And once that ball was in motion (and I rudely abandoned Shelly) I wouldn't allow myself to slow down (intentionally, that is). I pushed and pushed and pushed. 

If there ever was a word to describe my attitude and mood, it was just pure angry determination. I hate to admit that I'm an angry runner. And on most days I'm not. But on this day I just had some penned up fire that I needed to allow to burn up. So I gave it my all.

Tried to keep up with this amazing girl who was only a few strides ahead of me (later I would find out her name is Carla) but in the end she had more in the tank those last couple of miles.

I crossed the finish in 1:38:20, a new PR for me by about 6 minutes.

And here is my amazing new coach. I abandoned her to charge ahead like an idiot, but she did the valiant thing and hung back with her hubby and was fighting off a sinus infection and the FLU. She still PR'ed with a 1:41. Unbelievable!

And here is the amazing John Dempsey on his journey to becoming a plant powered marathon man:

And here is my Wicked partner in crime, Lauren. We didn't hunt down any deer this time, but we did hunt for some Blue Moon at the beer tent.

More post race fun:

Coach Butterball Bob

The Team in Training gang. Great peeps.

Official results are in. 

On day 1, it looked like I landed a second place in my age group. But after everything was sorted out, I came in third. 

22/1556 females. I'm pretty proud of that. And 131/2598 finishers. Top 5%. Not bad for someone who couldn't run one mile straight 5 years ago.

I continue on with my training. I have a trail 50K in less than 2 weeks. I'm not ready. I ran 24 miles on Sunday, but took a couple of breaks. It will be interesting.

Then come January 1st the REAL fine tuning for Boston begins, and I need to get my mind right again.