Running update and what have you

I am finally back at it. I have just recovered from a crazy upper respiratory infection. i was getting worried about it because I have a half marathon this coming weekend. I ran a 5 k two weekends ago with the infection and it wasn’t that fun. (How could I turn down a free registration though!?)

Anyway, I did two runs this weekend and they weren’t too bad. Saturday I felt pretty great. I tried out 3/1 intervals and they seemed to work pretty well. I averaged about 13:06 min/mile. I even managed to run all the way up the massive hill of death at the park.  It wasn’t my fastest run but it would be enough to get me a PR at the half if I can hold that pace all race. I really want a PR on this one. It was the second half I ran and ended up being a 20 minute PR for me. This year’s will be my fourth half and I just want to come in under 3 hours.

Yesterday, i ran with my bff and she is just getting back into running. She’s a natural speed demon but we both struggled yesterday. The wind was awful. Leave it to us to go for a run in the middle of a dust storm warning. I thought we both did good. We averaged about 14 min/mile and I still think she did great despite her saying she didn’t. I was just happy to keep up with her!

There are some other things going on lately too. I am still going to personal training 3 times per week and it is going wonderfully. I love my trainer and I’m seeing massive differences. My biceps are more defined as are my shoulders, back, and triceps. Today she told me she could tell my knees were getting stronger due to the amount of weight we used in one of the sets. it was a weight I was never able to do before.

I have also started redoing my diet and started juicing. I’ll try to make some posts about those soon. I also have a review of my new Garmin planned.

Tiny biceps and nerves

Yesterday I rested and today I did personal training with the awesome Mallorye. As I did bicep curls she tells me “Hey there’s a bicep there!” I looked in the mirror and, sure enough, there was a little baby bicep. Guess this sticking to a routine thing actually CAN work! Seriously though, I love personal training and it’s helped my running in both physical and confidence. I feel better. I feel stronger. I tell myself I can and WILL complete the Glass Slipper Challenge.

I’m still nervous. I have both my skirts in and the tanks from raw threads are on their way. I will either do the assigned 5 and 14 mile runs this weekend or I will do the 10k and half run through in costume. I still want a few props ( an apple and a headband for Snow and a toy frying pan for Punzie..if the new rules will allow those.) but I am mostly ready. We set out for Florida in exactly two weeks!

Getting my mojo back

I finally got back out there and ran today. I took my lovely Sparkle Skirt out for a trial run and she was amazing. I only did two miles because I didn’t want to get sweaty and nasty in her. After last week’s tough run, I have not had much motivation but today was pretty good. I went without music and ran at the college campus here in town.

Since today was the first day where temps were in the 60s again, everyone was at the park. I tried to run there first and both the road and the trail were packed to the gills. It was insane.

I did my short run. Averaged 12:19 min/mile and that was with walking to take a phone call from the hubby. If not for him I would have been a bit speedier. I’m looking forward to going back out again tomorrow for a longer run.

As for my skirt…she was great! There are two enormous pockets on the shorts underneath the skirt and it was big enough to fit my iPhone 6 plus, case and all. Someone had said they put a water bottle in their side pocket. My water bottle fit but looked like I had some kind of deformity so I left it in the car. The middle zippered pocket was perfect for my keys and would be great for holding fuel on longer runs. She didn’t ride up and made for a very comfortable run.

Not so great end to the weekend

This past week was just completely off thanks to the brief winter weather. It was a double run weekend and I feel like those are most important for the GSC training. I stressed half the week hoping I would get to do them.

I did. Saturday I did a personal training session and later went for a run. I decided to try to use the shoe inserts one more time. I shouldn’t have. They were the source of my foot issues and I ended up walking instead of running.

I headed out yesterday for the scheduled 12.5 run and there was still some pain. I did great for the first half of the run though. Then 8 miles in I had to make an unscheduled bathroom stop. For like 10 minutes. I seriously thought about just doing the mile that would get me to the mall where my husband works, stealing his car, and going home. Alas, I decided to continue on. The rest of the run was just a disaster. Full of traffic lights. The foot pain threw my gait off and gave me hip pain and I almost popped my knee out of place trying to stretch. Yeah it was awful. I decided at 10.5 miles to call it. I walked the mile back to my car and complained on the phone to my running friend about how sucky it felt.

Then the doubts started. Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into. 

Holy cow I have to run further than this for the challenge.

Oh crap it’s less than a month. What was I thinking?

Of course, I realize that this is just ONE RUN. I also know there won’t be stop lights and bad shoe decisions before those races. I am telling myself repeatedly now, YOU CAN  DO THIS and Think of all that bling! 

There is no way to slice it, I am nervous. Seeing posts about how we should be getting corral assignments soon and everyone getting their magic bands (ours came in last week) is drilling it in. This is really happening and it’s not far away. Single digit weeks.

Anyone else getting the jitters??

 

The Things I Get talked Into…

I know I already posted but I wanted to do a more upbeat one now that I ate my snickers and feel better 😉

I’m going to start by going back a year. This time last year I was struggling and in so many ways. I was registered for a half marathon. The second one I registered for but it would end up being the first one I completed. Anyone that knows me can tell you, I am not used to failing. I’m just not. I had a 4.0 in high school. I have a master’s level education and was able to obtain a dream job. I was a championship majorette in high school and I went to districts in tennis twice, one of which was about three months after having a pretty significant knee surgery. I don’t give up and I rarely fail at things I truly set my mind on.

That being said, I had to back down from my first half marathon. I had busted tail all summer alone. I picked up my time and everything. I was hitting massive hills and practically wore  down the path in the trails at the park. I ran rain or shine. Then my old running partner came back to run. She had been out for a few months due to her back problems. She’s an amazing athlete that continually downplays her awesomeness and I have to admit that I sometimes felt a little inferior. She was a beast and just an overall natural runner. I was lucky to have her help me get started but I was trying to keep up with her and my so-called good knee went out on me (i.e dislocated) less than two miles in. It was my worst fall to date and I have dealt with these falls since I was single digit ages. I just have naturally awful knees. I still have flashbacks of that fall and might be part of why I am not quite as fast as many people I know that run. it put me out of commission for a while. We did the 5k instead of the half for that race and I was distraught. It felt like a failure.

Fast forward to January 2015. I had new shoes and a new half I was training for. I had some minor falls and the previous November I sprained my ankle. I had no running partner because she stood me up pretty much every day. She just really wasn’t a morning person. I was terrified I would not be able to finish that one either. The pace requirement wasn’t super fast or anything. You could literally walk the whole thing and finish but I was still terrified. I’m going to speed this up because the post is longer than I thought it would be… needless to say, I finished! and I made a new friend along the way.

She was wicked cool and stayed with me the whole time, even when I had to sit on the concrete and stretch my crazy hip out. Also, the medals were way cooler than the one pictured. Those were temporary ones because the real ones were tied up in a shipping crisis. Anyway, I had massive hip pain and was super slow but I still finished my first half.

The struggle I had was with pain and feeling like I was alone all the time. The day after this half, I started a program I accidentally signed up for. It was called Women Can Run and, yes, I said I ACCIDENTALLY signed up for it. I don’t do new crowds well. I’m an omnivert with a slight tendency toward introvert so hubby pretty much forced me to go through with it for the next few weeks.

The program was amazing!  It was free and for women of all ages. Walkers and runners were all welcome and I was somehow in the advanced group. I was terrified. I went on the first group run and was terribly slow. My leader, Lauren, was wonderful and hung back with me since everyone else had those amazing fast twitch muscles God left out on me. I told her about the awful hip pain I had experienced and about the knee problems. She suggested a metronome and told me to take small steps as if my shoelaces were tied together. I swear she was magic because that hip pain disappeared after that short run with her.

The program was 10 weeks and ended with a graduation 5k. In the advanced group we learned about speed drills and all kinds of stuff I had only read about in blogs and books. I some how went from running 13 minute miles to having my best magic mile be 10:45. My easy pace went up to 12:30-11:30 per mile. The best part was, they encouraged you to get to know the other women and make friends. This was how #teamslug began. I made two of my best running friends in that group. I did my second half marathon with them and cut 20 minutes off my time! That accidental registration changed my entire life and I am so glad hubby kind of forced my hand for those first few weeks.

The program is state wide and it was the best thing that happened to me. i would not be preparing for Princess Weekend if I had not gone to this clinic. I think I would have given up. Okay so maybe not but I would have hip pain, bad gait, and like no running friends which is just as bad.

The program is about to start back up and I have been talked into being a leader. I’m nervous because I feel like I still have so much more to learn. I’m also extremely excited and flattered that they felt I would be “an inspiration” to others. I have no idea how I will be an inspiration but I am hoping to be placed with the beginner runners. I love seeing people find joy in running and I can’t wait to give back to the program that gave me so much!

Unrequited Love

Last night was game night. Game night means lots of snacks and, usually, fast food. The crunch wrap box at Taco Bell just looked too tempting to turn down. Against my better judgement, I gobbled up that flour tortillas wrapped pseudo-Mexican food. 

Then we got to our friend’s house and the table held pretzels, trail mix, and Oreos. Those damn Oreos sat in front of my taunting me. Whispering my name and promises they couldn’t keep. I was weak and took two of them. Two can’t hurt you right? 

Wrong. 

The sweet goodness of the chocolate and cream-filled devils was short lived. I survived last night but, true to their deceitful nature, they came back to hurt me in the morning. It was hazy and grey outside this morning when I stumbled out of bed, head pounding. I didn’t want to go to training. I didn’t want to wake up. I just wanted to sleep to escape the pounding in my brain. 

I pushed through and committed to training. I sweated like a pig. I breathed deep throughout the session and explained to my awesome trainer that I wasn’t unhappy being there I was just struggling through a horrible headache brought on by my star-crossed love of all things gluten-ous. 

I feel like I have learned my lesson. I love pastas, breads, cookies, and pastries but they just don’t feel the same about me.

Training itself is going great. I’m seeing more and more definition in my muscles and I feel so much stronger in my running than I did before I started lifting. I’m getting super excited about princess weekend with just a touch of nerves. I can’t wait to run through the parks and maybe even make some new friends in person along the way. I’ll miss the anticipation once it’s over and have to find a new goal to work towards. 

What kind of struggles are you guys having? Any exciting races coming up for you (Disney or otherwise)?

Feeling Better

I’m back and feeling a bit better for the most part. I’m not worried about the job situation anymore. That was silliness on my part in the first place. I am still nervous about the race but that’s normal for me. I am starting to get really excited too!

  
Who wouldn’t be excited to earn these beauties!? Well, I’ll be getting (hopefully) the middle three at least! 

It’s so fun that the theme is Little Mermaid! The New Balance mermaid shoes are pretty gorgeous too. Personally, I am hoping they still have the Tink shoes when I get there! 

I went for my maintainence run this morning and it was a struggle to get out there. It’s cold outside and the bed was so warm. It also takes a lot of effort to put on all my gear. (knee braces) I did it, though. It wasn’t my best run but it wasn’t my worst one either. My time was in the 12 minute range and I would have liked for it to be a bit faster. I did push harder at the last mile and brought that one mile up to the 11 minute range. The best part was that I did not have any pain. None in my foot at least. Maybe the injury is finally over. I’m actually looking forward the the back to back runs this weekend too. 

I also started something new for the New Year. I’m keeping a training journal. I have documented all my runs and training sessions and even do a weekly wrap up. I’m going to try to have a little more structure with getting myself on here too. I also plan on writing about more than just running. When the mood hits I’ll throw out a new subject or I’ll do something more than just talk about what I accomplished in running that day/week. I’ll find my direction. For now, this princess is getting pumped about getting her glass slippers. I thought the Disney races would be something to do down the road and here I am 42 days from my first one!

Happy New Year!!!!!

It’s officially 2016 and I’m still wondering how we got her so fast. Seriously, what happened to 2015. In less than two months, it will be time for Princess weekend. That fact is both exciting and terrifying to me. I have never done a challenge race before and I am starting to think I was crazy for choosing to do it. I haven’t started making my costumes and I thought I would have them done by now.

You mean you can’t just whip up a great costume on the first try without prior knowledge of sewing…what!?!

It’s also coming up on the two years of marriage mark which seems insane to me.  I feel like I was making bouquets and trying not to kill my cousin/matron of honor just yesterday.

That being said, I did get this year off to a good start. We had a fun little gathering of friends last night. I brought my camera and played blindly with it. I caught some decent pics too.

Like these beauties. Okay, I know they aren’t spectacular but you have to start somewhere, right?

This morning, I drug myself out of bed after just a few short hours of sleep and headed out for a free fun run I told a friend I would do before I realized we were actually socializing on New Year’s Eve. Hubby has become quite the homebody these days.

They had free cucumber shots for participants and the organizers let us know that our town is finally trying to get a new running group off the ground. Meeting in on the 7th at 7 and I just might try to go. My running buddy and I headed out at an easy pace since I have been dealing with my weird toe issue since the Hot Chocolate 15k. (I blame the hills. Damn you hills!) I put on the shoes I was using over the past year instead of my newer ones this time. I thought maybe rotating shoes more again would ease whatever is causing the toe crud. It did! I’ll wear the ones I have a bit longer and look for a good deal on some alternates for when these officially die.

We had fun with the run for sure. It was short and sweet. We weren’t fast but we got it done and even got some official encouragement along the way!

Isn’t that sweet!?!

I also made my first attempt at midrace selfies (yep, I was THAT girl today)

Who cares, though?! We had fun in the cold (it FINALLY feels like winter here!!) and we started the year off running! Tonight, hubby and I shall eat black eyed peas and lobster tail! (sorry but hog jowl just sounds disgusting…)

As for my new goals…stress less and run more! I’m aiming for 1000 total miles this year and will do more if I can! I can’t wait to see what this year brings.

How was your new year’s day? Any new goals? 

Feeling A Little Off

I did run Saturday. 2 easy miles which felt like I was completely slacking. My toe was still having a little bit of issues. I decided to rest it until Thursday. I hope it will be completely resolved by then. I may try some KT tape on it too. Today has just been a completely off day. 

I went to personal training and made it through. It felt like I was barely making it, though. The stairmaster is usually tough but today it was horrible. I felt so run down. I pushed through and fought the feelings back. Dry mouth, nausea, and just overall rundown. We will see how it plays out.