Running Quote

People ask why I run. I say, "If you have to ask, you will never understand". It is something only those select few know. Those who put themselves through pain, but know, deep down, how good it really feels.
Erin Leonard

Control

I am fairly competitive, controlling, Type-A, whatever you want to call it. Growing up we were all competitive. So much so that when I ended up playing against my sister in a tennis tournament, my mother sat in the exact middle of the seats, didn't cheer at all, and left before the final point was played, because she didn't us to think she chose sides, because it was not a friendly match by any means.
So when I found running it came as a relief that I had found a sport where I didn't have to worry about winning. It was just something I could do for me. It's a great way to forget about whatever happened at work, because when you're 3 miles into a run on a nice day everything else sort of fades away.
Of course training for this marathon has made my Type A personality show through again. When I trained for Nashville in 2004, my goal was to finish. To simply make it through all the training runs and to cross the finish line. When I started running the half marathons I've been running recently, I had similar goals. But one after another I started comparing times. And now I find myself striving for a sub-5 hour marathon in D.C.
Of course to a lot of runners five hours is forever. I am of course, slow. And I have no problem with this, since in the end I'm only out there for myself. To prove that I can run another 26.2 miles. To get that medal that reminds me when you put your mind to it, nothing in life is out of reach. And to prove that I can do this under 5 hours.
Two weeks ago I ran my first 20 miler of this training season. It did not really go as planned. It took me about 4:15. Which was a huge let down considering I hoped to finish it under 4 hours, which would put me on pace to finish the marathon in my goal time. Granted the course we ran is fairly hilly. And it's still kind of toasty around here not to mention humid. But it's still disappointing.
I keep being reminded that race day is different. The adrenaline of all the other runners and of all the training paying off, kick in and put you in a different mind set. I certainly hope that's true. I'd hate to come back from D.C with a medal and a lot of disappointment.
This week I have a 12 mile run and the following week another 20 miler. I hope that one goes better. Four more training weeks until the Marathon!

Training, confirmation, and weather

John and I went to Waco this weekend, so I did my long run Saturday morning instead of Sunday. My friend Allison was kind enough to wake up at 6:30 on Saturday to be support for me. She met me at the 7 and 9 mile points. Unfortunately I was pretty much done at the 9 mile point. I forgot to grab my ankle brace before leaving the house (in reality I have no idea where it is, and had to buy a new one on Saturday), but thought I would be okay because the route is relatively flat. Turns out I was wrong, and the brace is helping a lot more than I thought. I'm sure I could have finished out the 12 miles, but I'm trying to be smart about possible injuries.
Hopefully everything will be back to normal for Sunday's 20 mile run. The temperatures are supposed to stop dropping a bit, so cooler temperatures may mean an easier run.

There's only six weeks left until D.C.! I got my confirmation card emailed to me yesterday. Basically it's a form I have to print out and take with me to the race to get my race number and assorted goodies!

I looked online today to see historical temperatures for that weekend. The average high is 68, low 40. I'm either going to freeze or finish in a great time trying to finish quickly and get some warm clothes on! :)

Signs from the Lord

Everything is difficult before it's easy. That's what the sign stated at a church along my 18 mile route on Sunday. It's rather poignant, don't you think? I mean here I was finishing up mile 15 and feeling really good still, especially knowing that one of my co-workers, Jennifer, would be waiting for me to run the last 3 miles with me. And suddenly here were these powerful words! It was awesome.
And in the end I ran the 18 miles in about 3:47. And I felt great afterward, no cramping, no feelings of total exhaustion. Just a great post run feeling. Jennifer even said that I didn't look like someone who had just ran "a bazillion miles."
And this run was so much easier than last week. Part of it was the fact that the temperature dropped a bit. In fact there were points in the run where I was a bit chilly (lots of sweat and a cool breeze will do that). I really felt like I cruised the whole way. I made sure to refuel at every other water stop with a Gu. Took in the right amount of fluids. And used my walking breaks to my advantage. In fact, I don't think I took any unplanned walk breaks and I made sure not to skip any (I think skipping some has worn me out prematurely some runs). For the first 14 miles I did a solid 5:1, then the rest I did a 4:1 which was my plan.
I was able to make it up hills that I previously had to walk. The whole run felt amazing! I don't know if it was the fact that I went to sleep at 9:30. Or if it was because I know the marathon is only (gulp) 7 weeks away. Or if seeing the elevation chart made me want to charge up each hill that I faced. But something really clicked this weekend.
I go down to 12 miles this weekend and then up to 20 the weekend after that. Hopefully I can keep up this amount of energy and this attitude for the next 7 weeks. I can't wait for D.C.!

Drumroll please

I ran a totaly of 112 miles last month!
And had to buy new running shoes because of it. I haven't had a chance to total my mileage for this training season, but I'm fairly certiain it's more than 300 miles. And you're supposed to replace your shoes every 300-500 miles. This is really unfortunate because my shoes certianly don't look used and ready to be replaced. Yes, I've had a few times where I've had to run through mud. And then there were all the rainy days this summer. But other than that they look like shoes that are three months old, not shoes that need replacing.
Oh, well though, it's the price I pay for being so dedicated to training. :)