9 days to go!!

I can't believe there's only 9 days to go until my first marathon!!! I can't wait to run it. It's going to be amazing! Plus, keep an eye out for Saturday cause I have a great giveaway coming to celebrate my marathon. :)

I have to be honest though, I was SOO pumped for this marathon, but once I started having IT band issues I have lost almost all motivation. The only thing that's been keeping me going are the long runs each week. I love my long runs.I think that's a big reason I've been slacking on my blog, it's not just because the laptop's in the shop. I don't know what my problem is, but somethings gotta change!  I've lost my "muchness".
This morning was a changing point for me. I got up and took the kids on a run around the lake. I started out walking, just cause I'm not used to running with a stroller. Anyway, I start to run and B, my 5 yr old says, "Mom, are you running?" I reply, "Yep, I'm running." B says, "Are you sure mom cause grandma goes a lot faster when she runs." Hahaha! Why, thanks B...I'm glad to know that you don't even know when I'm running cause I'm THAT slow...

Then after picking up my pace to show B that I can run fast too, I stop to walk cause I'm a slacker like that. After walking for about .25 B says, "Mom, can you run again when you get to that tree?" So, I run as fast as I can until I get to the tree and walk again... So, after another .25 she says, "Mom, can you run across the bridge?" "Sure, B...I can run across it."

It's sad when your 5yr old realizes that you aren't putting in 100% and makes you do Fartleks just so you get a workout. :) For the whole 5+ miles she had me running to different things and running down hills until I reached a certain point.

Thanks B, for helping me realize that I need to put in 100% when I set a goal. I love ya girl! :)

Today I did 5 miles, Monday I did 2. I skipped yesterday cause I didn't make it a priority. Tomorrow, I'm getting up early and doing the same thing I did today, but running a lot more of it.

A little blah & a TON of faith.

Blah.
That's all there is to say today.....


Ok, so not really. Today was a GREAT day for everything in my life other than running. I'm just getting jealous of everyone out there running, that's all.

I just gotta have faith. Here's me having faith...ready?

I am going to run this marathon and I'm going to be 100% by Monday of next week. YOU HEAR ME? I'M GOING TO BE 100% BY MONDAY. I AM! You wait and see.

This Week's Schedule.

There are two ways I can go into this week. I can go into it with a positive attitude or I can go into it with a negative one. I can go into it thinking that I'm hurt and I can't run, why even try to keep going. Or I can go into it thinking that I'm hurt and this week will heal me.

My brain and my hormones are saying to go with the negative. My heart on the other hand is telling me to go with the positive. It's so hard when I just want to quit, but I've gotten SO much great advice and guidance that I can't quit. I'm just SO afraid that I won't ever heal and I won't be able to run my marathon.+++

I have been blessed with many talents and one of them is enduring. I think that's why I enjoy long runs. This is just another thing I need to endure. I need to do what I'm told and not push myself or give up all together. Every thing's going to work out...I'll be better and I'll run my marathon without any pain. 

Ok, so I know this post is all over the place, but it's just one of those days, ya know?

This week's schedule is:
Monday: walk, cross train, stretches
Tuesday: walk, strength train, stretches
Wednesday: walk, cross train, stretches
Thursday: walk, strength train, stretches
Friday: walk, cross train, stretches
Saturday: walk as far as I can, strength train, stretches
Sunday: OFF

There's a lot of walking going in there, but I don't have any pain and I think it's helping me keep up with my training. Plus, it's been a really good way for me to have some positive time alone with myself. The cross training, I'm not sure if it'll be the elliptical or the bike, I may even switch it up every day, I just gotta find something interesting to do while I do it. Maybe I'll watch Run Fat Boy Run a couple times. :)

This week will also consist of a lot of prayer/meditation. I gotta get better....I just have to. 

Here's to a great week!

Good luck to all the Boston racers out there!!!

More exercises and more advice.

Today I went to the physical therapist. She thinks it's my IT band that's giving me issues and my weak, uneven hips aren't helping it. Plus, I'm not stretching after runs or strength training or cross training so I'm pretty much asking for injury. You know, I've thought the same thing for a little while now, but it's all good. I'm sure it's a blessing in disguise.

This morning we went on a 3 mile walk as a family around the lake. I even raced B a couple times without any pain. It was fun, I would have liked to go faster, but J's back is hurt and he could only go so fast. I ran for a few minutes on the treadmill at the PT office and it didn't hurt that bad, but it was bad enough that I knew I didn't want to go any further. I don't want to undo the healing I've been doing.

So, the PT said I need to stretch, cross train, strength train and use one of those foam rollers. All next week no running just strength and cross training. I can keep doing my miles walking, but I've gotta include the other stuff. I may try to throw in a minute of jogging here or there, but the goal is to be good by next week so I'm cleared to continue with training.

Oh, those with RunningSkirts questions...I have both skirts the ones with briefs and the ones with shorts. The ones I was wearing have shorts, I loved them! They didn't ride up, but I'm not sure if it was cause the shorts are that awesome or if it was because of the Body Glide, but it worked. Maybe in a week or two I'll be brave enough to wear the brief ones, but for now those are the ones I wear with capris.

Tomorrow's the SLC Marathon 5k....I'll be one of the walkers out there! :)

Well, that didn't work...

I was going to write a whole post about how I got a knee brace and it magically made everything perfect and I was able to run 9 miles without any problems. Well, I got the brace, ran a mile and had to walk/run (with more walking than running) the last 3 miles. I wish I knew what was up. My hips felt fine, my legs felt great, it's just that stupid right knee. I guess I'll just have to do the bike or the elliptical tomorrow. The only thing with the elliptical is, my toes go numb when I do it. Am I the only one out there who has that problem?

Oh well, 4 miles today is better than nothing. It's just so weird  cause right now I feel 100% like I could run with no problems, it's just that stinkin' knee. I've done my stretches, iced it, heated  it, stretched it...lets hope something works.

To the doctor I go...

I went to see the Sports Doc today. She pulled, stretched, pushed, x-rayed, and did everything to find out what the deal was. Well, everything looks normal except my right leg is about 1/2" shorter than my left because my pelvis is a little crooked. She gave me some exercises to do to put it back in place.

She gave me the OK to keep running, but I have to do a whole walk/run thing. If it keeps hurting while running I'll have to do some cross training. She also said I need to do some strength work with my core and hips. My x-rays came out perfect, my spine's good, my hips are good, my bones are good.

When I got home we took the kids to the playground and J and I did 2 miles in laps around the playground. Well, I felt great while running/walking, but now that I'm home it's hurting. LAME....And now it's the same kind of pain, but it's not shooting pain down my leg, it's pain on the outside of my knee. It's like if I could pop my knee like my knuckles it would make it all better.

I just gotta stick to the exercises they gave me and I've gotta suck it up and do the whole walk/run thing. :)

Oooh, I found my running outfit for Saturday! Isn't it cute?

I LOVE it!

 Let's just hope my leg is back to normal by Saturday so I can wear it.

Tomorrow I'm thinking I'll do an hour on the bike or something and skip my running miles. I dunno...maybe I'll walk/run...we'll see.

Ugh...So much for that.

The goal was to run 16 miles. I got up at 3:20 when little miss started crying. Got her all fixed up and back in bed and got ready for my run. Now, an hour or so later I am back home after walk/jogging 4 miles before my muscle/nerve in my STUPID right leg wouldn't let me go any further. I could have pushed through another 2 miles or so, but seriously...I was going at such a lame pace that I might as well have been walking pushing a stroller. It's like if I were able to pop my knee some how, kinda like popping your knuckles, it would fix it or something. I even stopped about 4 times though the run to stretch it out to see if it would help, but it only lasted about 100 yards before I had to stop and walk.

I'm so frustrated! .....whatever....maybe next time. I'll just rest the rest of the day today and tomorrow. Maybe I can try again Monday or something. Maybe it's my shoes giving me the problem. I dunno, I should be getting some new ones soon, hopefully that'll help.

The Riverton Half Marathon

So...... I ran my first Half Marathon in 2.21.38!! Not too bad for my first official half! :)

Ok, so here's how it went:

It was a little chilly at the start. The car said it was 31º and the wind wasn't blowing much, it was a little cloudy though. But, when we were getting ready to start the sun came out and the weather was GREAT!

Miles 1-2: I started out pretty good. I wasn't TOTALLY warmed up, even after running a 1 mile warm up. It takes me about 2.5 miles to get in my groove when it comes to running long distances. I started out with my warm up jacket on, but I knew that I would ditch it at the first water stop. When I was getting close to mile 3 we were running down hill and I was sweating bullets. I don't know why, but I had sweat in my eyes and everything. Everything was flat until mile 2.5 and then we started going down hill.

Mile 3-5: I hit my groove, I ditched my jacket and I even did it while running. J got me a camelbak to run with since I HATE having things around my waist while I run. So, when I ditched my jacket I had to take off the camelbak, my jacket, and my watch all while running. Why you may ask? Cause I'm weird like that. I can't say "I ran 13.1 miles" if I stopped. SOOOO...I did all that and put the camelbak and watch back on threw my jacket at the water stop and kept going. We went down hill for a little while, went up a couple little hills, and ran flat for a while.

Mile 6-7: This is when it got fun. Mile 6 was nice and flat and then I see the mile 7 sign and look up.....HOLY CRAP! You want me to run up that?! It was a pretty steep hill. I kept on and figured that if I didn't look at the hill it wouldn't be so bad. So, I kept my head down and took it one step at a time. I reached the top of the hill and it was flat for a little while and then a little down hill.

Mile 8: Yay! The mile 8 sign and what's that? ANOTHER MASSIVE HILL! This one was even bigger than the last. Head down, one step at a time, made it up without stopping. Things leveled out and went down hill a little.

Mile 9-10: MORE FREAKIN HILLS! Up a BIG hill, leveled out, down a hill, then another BIG hill, leveled out again, and then down another hill.

Mile 11: There's a water stop, I grab a water and run with it. It's not easy to drink and run at the same time. I hear a guy tell his girl "One more hill and then it's pretty level from there." A little past the water stop and you see the hill. There's a sign that says something like "Welcome to the "S" hill! The "S" hill can stands for more than one thing. It's the "Oh, Sh....Hill" "Satan's Hill" "Stupid Hill". It was a hill that was "S" shaped and VERY steep! I had to keep my head down on this one. There was no way I could look at the hill and keep going. I made it up without stopping. When I reached the top it was level for a second and then went up a little bit more and then leveled out again.

Mile 12-13: I felt GOOD! I kept a great pace the whole time. There was a lady who used me as a pacer. She came up to me at the end and said thanks for the help. the last mile was flat and easy.

The last .13: I picked up the pace and finished at 2.21.38! While I was approaching the finish line I look around and J's NOT there. So....no finishing picture. I don't know if there was anyone taking pictures at the finish I couldn't find anything online.

I looked around for J, called my mom to tell her how I did, and then saw J waiting at the finish line looking for me.

He snapped a picture and this is my "I'm trying to fake a smile while I tear up on the phone cause J missed me crossing the finish line" photo.

This is my "FINE! I'll fake another smile, I don't care" picture.

Hey, it's REALLY emotional running that far for that long without stopping and then finishing and having no one there to see you finish. I was wanting an awesome "CHECK ME OUT!" photo for the finish. I was going to take Mel's advice and ham it up for the photo. I thought about it the whole time I was running. It ended up that he missed me crossing the finish by about 5 minutes. Oh, well.

Anyway, after a massage at the massage tables and getting some food in me and talking to my mom some more I forgave J for being late and missing out on a special moment.

They gave us a cool little towel and a nice metal. My first! :) I can't wait to collect more!

It's heavy too!

All in all it was a great race, I felt great, my muscles aren't too sore, just my thighs from those hills. I'm glad I did it. I can't wait to run the 10 mile race with my mom next Saturday, it's going to be fun. :)

Sick+Snow=No 14 Mile Run

I'm still not feeling 100%. I'm probably about 70%. I woke up this morning and thought about running 7 miles and then having Jace pick me up at the half way if I couldn't go the whole way, but when I stood up out of bed....WHOA! There is NO WAY I can run 7 miles let alone 14. So, I slept in for a while, went and weighed in really quick at WW. Lost 4.8 lbs thanks to being sick and not eating for 3 days. I need to get food in my tummy I am completely empty and I don't have the energy to run. Going down stairs is hard enough. Maybe when I get food in me and lots of water I'll feel great. I'm hoping to get my 14 miles in on Monday.

About an hour after going to WW, it looked like this outside....

Yeah, I don't think that would mesh too well with a sick momma trying to run 14 miles.

The video doesn't do it justice...those were HUGE flakes!

PS. I have some new Sauconys that I can't wait to try out. I love Saucony shoes!

101.7º

Yeah....so I have a fever. I've had one all night. The weird thing, when I first went to bed last night I took my temp and it was 96.2º and I was shaking soo hard. Jason said I was freezing. After a couple hours my temp jumped to 101.7º and heaven knows it got even higher than that.  Right now, I have a temp of 100.5º and I look like I was hit by a train. I wonder if I ran if it would kill this thing cause it is NO FUN. Will I be better for tomorrow? I hope so. Even if I am better should I run? We'll see.

I don't feel good...

It's crazy. I woke up this morning at 6 when little Mr. Man had to go potty. I felt fine. I even debated if I should go run, but I decided to sleep in. 30 minutes later I wake up for good and it feels like I was hit by a train. You know the aches and chills  you get when you have a fever? Yeah, I had those really bad. So, needless to say I didn't get in my 4 miles plus sprints today. Even though I had a couple hours during the day that I felt like I could muster up enough energy to run, I thought It would be better to rest. I just really hope that I feel better tomorrow. A 24 hour bug would be nice...well, not nice as in I like having them, but nice as in I don't want it to go longer.

So, in some happier news. Miss Ma'am has been inspired by my running. She wanted to run on the treadmill. She did .5 miles in 7 minutes. :) She was so proud to be running like mommy.

Then she wanted to do push ups. She wanted to do 5 cause she was 5.

Then she wanted to do sit ups. Again, she wanted to do 5 cause she is 5.

I love my girl. She's so excited to exercise like mommy and she keeps asking if she can run a race too. There's a cute little Cookie Chaser race for Girl Scout Cookies that I thought she would have fun with.

Anyway, at least one of us got some exercise today. :)

Sometimes...

Sometimes I hate food. Am I the only one who feels that way? I hate when I eat a meal and almost immediately regret eating it. I hate eating a meal and then realizing that the 4 miles I ran earlier that morning was for nothing. I hate feeling like I'm going no where in my weight loss journey. I know that's wrong to think that way, but after a 3.5 lb weight gain last week, it's a little frustrating. I really gotta figure out the key to running and eating and I really need to watch my portions and cut out all the candy. It's not good for me physically and mentally. I just don't want my weight loss this far to be to waste. I don't start bad habits and start over eating again.

Anyway, onto happier things. I got up and ran this morning!! I did 4 miles with 4x100 sprints. I felt strong and confident. I love when I have an awesome morning run. It's a great start to the day. Tomorrow's 7 miles, I'm kinda excited for it, but I'm also nervous. I'm not sure why. It's not like I haven't run 7 miles before.

18 more days until my first 1/2 marathon, the Riverton Half! EXCITING!!! :) I'm not really going to be racing for a fast time, but it's still good cause it'll be a test run to see how the the real thing will be.

A Wall...

I still haven't gotten my 8 mile tempo run done today...I'm hoping to get it done in the next hour or so, but you know what, I feel like I've hit some sort of running wall. I've lost my motivation and it's SOOO hard to get out the door. Maybe its because its the TOM or maybe cause I'm really getting into the bigger miles of marathon training, but I hit a wall and I hit it hard. Let's hope things change after my run, if I ever get my butt out there to do it.

Yep....

So, my 5 miler ended up being only 1.25 because I was procrastinating and didn't end up running until about 5. Plus, I've been wearing some new shoes, not a fan...I gotta ditch them. My arches and muscles weren't enjoying them. Tomorrow's run will be awesome and I'm REALLY REALLY hoping to get it done early.

I was really happy with my food today. Lots of good food! Oatmeal, Buffalo Chicken Wraps, and Taco Rice...YUM! Oh, the planter's NUTrition Energy Mix....YUUUUUM!! I love the chocolate pieces, and that's coming from someone who's not a chocolate fan.

I hope you all had a better run than I did today! Here's to a better day tomorrow. :)