Sunday, August 23, 2009
Mind Body Spirit Strong.
This is my mantra when things get tough on a run. I was all about the mental preparations when I trained for my first marathon over a year and a half ago. I have run two other marathons since that first one and have totally forgotten about all my mental tricks that I learned. Yesterday on my 20 mile run, in preparation for Top Of Utah, I had a very very tough run. It forced me to remember all the mental things I used to do back in the day. For the first time in my life, I thought I might just be having an asthma attack. It was so weird. I had to totally stop and calm myself down. After that, I just couldn't get my breathing right and I could hardly speak to my running buddy Kristi I was so out of breath. So I started using chanting my mantra in my mind. Mind, Body, Spirit Strong. I didn't love my run, but I loved that I was forced to think about all of my mental strategies I was so into long ago. I'm going to make better use of them in the future. Here's to a better long run next week and the power of the mind!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Canyon to Canyon Half Marathon Report.
Last weekend I ran the Canyon to Canyon Half Marathon for my first and last time! It should have more appropriately been named Rollercoaster to Rollercoaster Half Marathon, or Mountain After Mountain Half Marathon. YIKES! If you want to A) get a serious hill/mountain workout for 13.1 miles B)Get an extra tight bum from said hill workout or C) torture yourself, then this is the race for you!!
I however was not privy to this information BEFORE I ran the race. The website said "gently rolling hills." Ummmmm OK. Not even close. There was no elevation map on the website either. (That should have clued me in!) You get the point right, it was super hilly! INSANELY hilly!
So the first mile actually wasn't too bad. It was "rolling hills" on a road. After one mile you turned onto a dirt/gravel road that ran through the mountains and that's where the real craziness began. My watch beeps at every mile. I thought for sure I had missed the mile 2 beep. I looked at my watch and couldn't believe it said 1.56! WHAT! I was hitting the WALL at 1.56. WOW. I knew at that point, this race was about survival! Apparently hills are not my forte. They suck the life right out of me. This course was an out and back, so there was no getting excited about going down hills. I knew my buns would eventually be turned around going up them. Luckily I had my neighbor Kristi running with me. We kept each other going. We started naming the hills cuss words so that we wouldn't technically be cussing. (I'm not proud of my actions, just telling it like it is :>) When we got to about mile 5, we started seeing people coming back at us. We were deliriously tired and that made us act as if we were drunk or something. We started cheering like mad women for the runners coming at us yelling the most crazy/obnoxious things. At the time, we thought it was HILARIOUS! Looking back, people probably either loved or hated us. Some things I remember yelling, "It's all downhill from here." "I love hills and so do my buns." "You're almost there!" "Keep going, you're kicking my butt!" "You are the wind beneath my wings." "You are my hero!" "You're awesome!" "YES! Calorie Up ladies(three ladies were frantically taking gel packs around a garbage can)" That's just what I remember. So we made it to the turn around and got a drink and started to head back. We actually felt WAY better on the way back then on the way there. We got in a good groove and went with it. I decided to count hills on the way back, but at mile nine I went up a HUGE hill and forgot that I was counting hills. I was at 14. At this same time, Kristi got ahead of me about 20 yards. So I put on my iPod and worked to catch back up. I caught her at mile 10.5. I took out one earbud so we could still talk. We finished pretty strong. We split 6 minutes faster on the way back than on the Way there. Nice huh. Toward the end, I just wanted to beat the girl wearing the same skirt as me. (Why am I such an idiot???) I totally did it! When we crossed the finish line, I grabbed Kristi's hand and raised them up in victory. :)
Our official time was 2 hours 10 minutes 5 seconds. Yikes. My personal slowest. But I really don't care because I conquered Mt. Everest that day, like 50 times! OR MORE!
P.S. My buns have yet to recover!
P.S.S. The car in front of us hit a dear on the way up the canyon! CRAZY. Ummm, glad it wasn't us.
Waiting in the car for the race to start. We are so clueless.
I however was not privy to this information BEFORE I ran the race. The website said "gently rolling hills." Ummmmm OK. Not even close. There was no elevation map on the website either. (That should have clued me in!) You get the point right, it was super hilly! INSANELY hilly!
So the first mile actually wasn't too bad. It was "rolling hills" on a road. After one mile you turned onto a dirt/gravel road that ran through the mountains and that's where the real craziness began. My watch beeps at every mile. I thought for sure I had missed the mile 2 beep. I looked at my watch and couldn't believe it said 1.56! WHAT! I was hitting the WALL at 1.56. WOW. I knew at that point, this race was about survival! Apparently hills are not my forte. They suck the life right out of me. This course was an out and back, so there was no getting excited about going down hills. I knew my buns would eventually be turned around going up them. Luckily I had my neighbor Kristi running with me. We kept each other going. We started naming the hills cuss words so that we wouldn't technically be cussing. (I'm not proud of my actions, just telling it like it is :>) When we got to about mile 5, we started seeing people coming back at us. We were deliriously tired and that made us act as if we were drunk or something. We started cheering like mad women for the runners coming at us yelling the most crazy/obnoxious things. At the time, we thought it was HILARIOUS! Looking back, people probably either loved or hated us. Some things I remember yelling, "It's all downhill from here." "I love hills and so do my buns." "You're almost there!" "Keep going, you're kicking my butt!" "You are the wind beneath my wings." "You are my hero!" "You're awesome!" "YES! Calorie Up ladies(three ladies were frantically taking gel packs around a garbage can)" That's just what I remember. So we made it to the turn around and got a drink and started to head back. We actually felt WAY better on the way back then on the way there. We got in a good groove and went with it. I decided to count hills on the way back, but at mile nine I went up a HUGE hill and forgot that I was counting hills. I was at 14. At this same time, Kristi got ahead of me about 20 yards. So I put on my iPod and worked to catch back up. I caught her at mile 10.5. I took out one earbud so we could still talk. We finished pretty strong. We split 6 minutes faster on the way back than on the Way there. Nice huh. Toward the end, I just wanted to beat the girl wearing the same skirt as me. (Why am I such an idiot???) I totally did it! When we crossed the finish line, I grabbed Kristi's hand and raised them up in victory. :)
Our official time was 2 hours 10 minutes 5 seconds. Yikes. My personal slowest. But I really don't care because I conquered Mt. Everest that day, like 50 times! OR MORE!
P.S. My buns have yet to recover!
P.S.S. The car in front of us hit a dear on the way up the canyon! CRAZY. Ummm, glad it wasn't us.
Waiting in the car for the race to start. We are so clueless.
Post Marathon: Starting Over???
Since I ran the Utah Valley Marathon, my training schedule has looked like this.
Post Race
Week 1: Nothing! Rest Rest Rest.
Week 2: 4 mile run and 3 mile elliptical
Week 3: 5 mile run, 5 mile run, and 3 mile run
Week 4: 5 mile run, five mile run, half marathon.
Week 5: 5 mile run, 5 mile run, 11.5 miles(today).
Let me tell you every single one of these runs has been HARD!!!! What??? I could have sworn I ran an awesome marathon 1 month ago. Why do I feel like I'm starting over??? So crazy.
Post Race
Week 1: Nothing! Rest Rest Rest.
Week 2: 4 mile run and 3 mile elliptical
Week 3: 5 mile run, 5 mile run, and 3 mile run
Week 4: 5 mile run, five mile run, half marathon.
Week 5: 5 mile run, 5 mile run, 11.5 miles(today).
Let me tell you every single one of these runs has been HARD!!!! What??? I could have sworn I ran an awesome marathon 1 month ago. Why do I feel like I'm starting over??? So crazy.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Psycho Marathon Dream!
I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner. I was bound to have a crazy marathon dream right? Last night was my night. The dream/nightmare went like this.
I was at my mom's house the night before the marathon. I woke up(in my dream) and realized I had slept in and there was no way for me to catch the bus to the start. My mom got up and said she would drive me to the start. We took off, in our old school red and white van that no longer exists, and she headed up South Hill instead of up to Bonney Lake. Now I was really freaking out because I was going to miss the start. We turned around and headed the right direction when I realized I was missing a history test in my college class. So my mom dropped me off at college so I could go to class. In class I realized I hadn't ever studied for the test, I didn't even know the names of the people they were talking about. So I asked if I could please go run my marathon and take the test later in the afternoon. The teacher agreed. Phew. Then Katie Rowe, a girl from high school that I haven't seen since, appeared in my dream to tell me who the historical people were on the test that I'd never heard of before. (I know, totally psycho) Then I was driving the red and white van to the start of the marathon and realized I was an hour and a half late! I didn't care, I was doing it anyway. I knew this course had a seven hour limit so if I could run it in 5 and a half hours I would be fine. EXCEPT I then realized I had never picked up my race packet and didn't have a bib number and I was worried no one would believe me that I had registered. THEN, as I approached the start of the race, there were forest fires everywhere and they weren't letting anyone else on the course. I wasn't going to run a marathon after all.
Then I woke up. I was confused at first and was trying to figure out what day/time it was and if I'd actually missed my marathon. Quickly I figured out it was just a psycho marathon dream......luckily!
I was at my mom's house the night before the marathon. I woke up(in my dream) and realized I had slept in and there was no way for me to catch the bus to the start. My mom got up and said she would drive me to the start. We took off, in our old school red and white van that no longer exists, and she headed up South Hill instead of up to Bonney Lake. Now I was really freaking out because I was going to miss the start. We turned around and headed the right direction when I realized I was missing a history test in my college class. So my mom dropped me off at college so I could go to class. In class I realized I hadn't ever studied for the test, I didn't even know the names of the people they were talking about. So I asked if I could please go run my marathon and take the test later in the afternoon. The teacher agreed. Phew. Then Katie Rowe, a girl from high school that I haven't seen since, appeared in my dream to tell me who the historical people were on the test that I'd never heard of before. (I know, totally psycho) Then I was driving the red and white van to the start of the marathon and realized I was an hour and a half late! I didn't care, I was doing it anyway. I knew this course had a seven hour limit so if I could run it in 5 and a half hours I would be fine. EXCEPT I then realized I had never picked up my race packet and didn't have a bib number and I was worried no one would believe me that I had registered. THEN, as I approached the start of the race, there were forest fires everywhere and they weren't letting anyone else on the course. I wasn't going to run a marathon after all.
Then I woke up. I was confused at first and was trying to figure out what day/time it was and if I'd actually missed my marathon. Quickly I figured out it was just a psycho marathon dream......luckily!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Official Freak Out!
So last night was my official freak out for this marathon! I did not sleep one bit! I tossed and turned all night worrying about it. Mostly worrying about how my body will hold up. Namely my IT band on the right side and my plantar faciitis problems that wont go away. Oh I'm nervous!!!
On the bright side, my neighbor and running buddy signed up today to run the marathon! It is totally a whim for her, she's never run a marathon before. So now I will have someone to ride the bus to the start with! So fun!
On the bright side, my neighbor and running buddy signed up today to run the marathon! It is totally a whim for her, she's never run a marathon before. So now I will have someone to ride the bus to the start with! So fun!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Updates
This weekend I'm driving to Washington to run the Rainier to Ruston Relay Race! This will be my 4th consecutive year doing it! So fun. My relay team is made up of all family. Three brothers, a sister, and a sister in law.
The week following the 20 miler was rough! I was very sick and only ran once. This week I got in a 5,4 and 7 miler. I'm taking today and tomorrow off for traveling and then on Sat. I'm running a total of 10.4 miles.
Then the marathon is here! Only 9 days away. I can't believe. It doesn't seem real yet though because this weekend is so exciting. Once I make it through this weekend, I'm sure the nervous breakdown will begin. :)
The week following the 20 miler was rough! I was very sick and only ran once. This week I got in a 5,4 and 7 miler. I'm taking today and tomorrow off for traveling and then on Sat. I'm running a total of 10.4 miles.
Then the marathon is here! Only 9 days away. I can't believe. It doesn't seem real yet though because this weekend is so exciting. Once I make it through this weekend, I'm sure the nervous breakdown will begin. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
