Buckling Down and Streaking

If I had a dollar for every time I've said "I need to do something to change this" over the last year, I'm pretty sure I'd have a good chunk of next month's mortgage.  I have gotten entirely too complacent with my training - barely following a plan and settling for "good enough to get me through" for months and months on end.

Somthing's GOT TO change.  SERIOUSLY.  Time to buckle down and RUN.

I'm not big on follow through.  I'm great with the grand ideas...that tend to fizzle out in execution.

So, when Runner's World posted their annual #RWRunStreak Challenge, I was tempted because it would be a great way to force myself to get back on some kind of plan - but, would I actually get past day 2 or 3?

Then a friend announced her commitment and she and I talked, and decided to be #StreakBuddies, so between the plan, the need to prove to myself that I can do it, the accountability of having a buddy, and the need to just do something, I think I've got my goal - and it's attainable.

The plan starts with a Turkey Trot today, Thanksgiving Day.  So I'm toeing the line, literally, in downtown Austin for their annual 5-miler.  Day one, check!

#RWRunStreak Training Plan

Photo Recap of the Double Weekend

FIRST ...  SPRINGFIELD, IL

The group in front of Lincoln's Home.

BFF & me with the Lincoln statue at the Illinois Capitol Building

Lincoln group pre-race (It was freezing that morning!)

RP, Nikki, and me finishing Lincoln.

Lincoln group post-race in front of the old state capitol building.

Nikki and me, post-race in Springfield.

Lincoln medal! 

AND NOW...ST. LOUIS!

"Holy Hill" on the Go! St. Louis course means you get a sprinkling of holy water from a priest at the beginning of the ~2 mile hill!

RP, Nikki, and me post-race in St. Louis.

St. Louis group post-race.

Go! St. Louis medal.

The two races together.

Being touristy - going to see the Gateway Arch!

 Going up in the arch!

Building our version of the arch at the St. Louis Science Center.

Run Halfway Challenge COMPLETE!

WE DID IT!!!  Way to go everyone - I'm so proud of each and every one of you that traveled this journey with me and completed your own personal 1-Mile-A-Day Challenge in December 2012.

As we ring in 2013 today, take a minute to reflect on all your accomplishments of the past year.

This Accomplishment Badge is yours, and it will be available to share on both FB and Twitter!

• Get your Facebook Accomplishment Badge HERE.
• Tweet this badge and your accomplishment using #RunHalfwayChallenge!

Don't forget that TriandTrue and Running Halfway Around The World are co-hosting a new January Challenge!  Get a jump start on the New Year! Pledge to log at least one running or walking mile every day in January - yes, every day!

Join the Facebook Group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/JanuaryJumpStartChallenge/

Race Report: My First Marathon - Mickey 2012: Part 2

Part Two: The Race

Did you miss Part one: Pre-Race?  Check it out here.

BFFs dressed alike!

Did I mention that I'd be running "in costume?"  I wanted to make this race memorable, since I intended it to be my only marathon.  Leah with SparkleSkirts made my year when she announced late last fall that she was debuting her MinnieTech skirt - it was exactly what I'd been looking for - a running skirt that was both incredibly functional and FUN!  So I paired the skirt with a black tech top, my clip-on Minnie Ears, and a red and white polka dot hair ribbon for "the essence" of Minnie Mouse.  (And I'm not ashamed to admit that I was over the moon when I found out my bib was red - it would coordinate perfectly with my outfit!)  My one concern about the whole thing was the weather.  The forecast was calling for high 70's and sunny - not exactly the ideal conditions for a slow runner wearing a black top.  After contemplating switching to a white shirt, I decided that black was really the better look, and that

Waiting for the bus.

I'd just have to tough out the heat for the sake of my vanity.  After using iron-on red glitter letters to add my name to my shirt, my look was complete!  BFF Carrie decided to go with the same outfit, so we were matchy-matchy!

2 a.m. is a ridiculous time to set an alarm, but it's part of the process of running Disney.  We'd heard that traffic was pretty bad getting over to the runner's village before Donald the day before, so we wanted to be on the first bus - which was leaving at 3am.  Since we'd laid out all of our stuff the night before, getting out of bed and getting going was the hardest part of the early wake-up.  Once we'd done that, we were ready fairly fast, and on our way to the bus depot.

Copping to a Crappy Run

Yeah, I know.  It's Thursday, and I'm just now writing about last Saturday's run...but I've spent most of the week trying not to think about just how bad it was.  And, I've had a really hard time putting the experience into words.  Combine the two, and, well...

17 miles (technically 16.8).  It was right there on the schedule, looming ominously on the horizon all of last week.  Looking back, I know I didn't go into Saturday morning with the right outlook.  Instead of a can-do attitude, I had some serious fears and doubts about being able to complete the distance - after all, it would be the furthest I'd ever run, and I'd missed the 15-miler two weeks ago.  Super bad move on my part.  How many times have I said that it's all about the attitude?!?!

So I'll just say it.  The 16.8 miles ended up being a 10.5 mile run and a 6.3 mile walk with some sporadic running thrown in there.  Yikes.

The weather was harsh - after only a couple miles, we all knew it wasn't going to be a great run.  Even though we'd been taking it really slow and had made numerous extended walk breaks, after 10 miles, I was really huffing and puffing.  My legs were feeling ok, but I just felt miserable and was really wanting to stop running and start the walk breaks early on almost every interval.  I knew that if I had any hope of getting in the total miles, I needed a longer break.  So I talked to our PGLs (Pace Group Leaders) and told them to go on without me - I was going to walk for a while.

A rough very early morning quickly turned into a brutal morning.  The sun beating down on the (mostly) unshaded lake loop certainly did not help matters and drained what remaining energy and motivation I had. Although I had intended to start doing intervals again at some point after walking, I ended up continuing to walk, and intermittently ran when I felt up to it, the whole way back.  I dragged my butt into the parking lot just as everyone else was leaving.

So, after rehashing all the bad stuff that went wrong on Saturday morning, I can also report a few positive things:

• I did 16.8 miles!!!!!!!!!!  Furthest distance ever for me!  Even my amazing runner friend M commented that that's further than he's ever gone.  Big accomplishment!
• After reviewing the data, I went 16.8 miles in 4:26.  That means in January I would have 2:34 to cover the remaining 9.4 miles - I'm pretty sure I could do that.  Huge confidence boost!
• Reached a decision that for any of the truly long runs (anything over 10 miles), I need to step back and run with the next slower group down in my Galloway Group.  The 2:1 intervals were a big step up for me when I started running with the group in May, and it's still pushing it a bit.  Although I'm going to miss my original group every 3rd week, I'll still get to run with them 2 out of every 3 weeks.  Yay for me making a hard decision, but one that's best for me!

Saturday's Stats:

• 10.49 mi; 2:33:26; 14:38 min/mi avg pace
• 6.31 mi; 1:52:33; 17:50 min/mi avg pace

Taper Run with Cattitude!

Today was my last "long" run before San Francisco, and it was...interesting...to say the least!  Since I was tapering and only doing 5 miles, I decided not to join the group (for several reasons: save gas, sleep later, no waiting around for them to finish) and run on the trail nearby.

So what's this about "cattitude?"  About a mile into the run, the trail squeezes between a row of houses and a creek.  As I'm running along, a big fluffy orange tabby cat darts out of the foliage around the creek and starts running towards me!  I figured he belonged in one of the houses, so I slowed down to let him cross the trail ahead of me.  Instead of crossing, he stopped right in my path and looked up at me like "ok, I'm here, now pet me!"  I'm a cat lover, but didn't want to stop, so I maneuvered around him and kept going.  Next thing I know, he's running ahead of me and has once again stopped in my path a few yards ahead, waiting for some attention!  We played leapfrog a total of 3 times before I guess he gave up on me - it was the funniest thing!  I can't help but wonder how many people stop and love on him that he's now perfected this routine?  I've seen plenty of wildlife on and around the trail over the years, but this was a whole new kind of interaction - too funny!

As for the run itself, I definitely didn't prep well enough for it since it was "just 5 miles."  I started out too fast, and got in a decent first 3 miles, but then the heat and humidity definitely started getting to me and I faded fast after the sun started rising high.  The last 2 miles really stunk - boo.

Oh well, it's done, and now San Francisco's only a week away!  The forecast for next Sunday is a high of 65 and mostly sunny - it's gonna be amazing running weather!

Other items of note from today's run:

1. I ran in my new Lotta Breeze Capri Skirt (in all black).  This probably added to the crappy last couple of miles because they're longer and exacerbated the already warm temps.  But I want to wear them for SF and didn't want to not have run in them beforehand.  SkirtSports has another winner with these - no budging, and a cute skirt to cover any areas you don't want the world to see  :o).
2. I think Zico Coconut Water is yucky.  I bought two bottles to try - one regular and one flavored.  The regular is drinkable, but not enjoyable - definitely not something I'd want to carry with me on my run (glad I tried it before I put it in my bottles).  I'll try the flavored one this week to see if it's any better.
3. I used the IMapMyRun+ app on my phone to post my progress to Facebook.  Seemed to work pretty well - still debating using this to post mile marker progress during San Fran.
4. Today's run put me over 300 miles for the year!

Today's Run:

• 10 min. warm-up walk
• 4.99 mi run; 1:05:06; 13:03 min/mi avg. pace.

Hitting 200!

I hit the 200 mile mark today!  This is a great milestone, but it's almost 6 months into the year, and I'm less than a 1/3 of the way towards my goal for the year - which is 700 miles.

I'm not too worried at this point, because  most of my training in the begining of the year was for shorter races, and I'm just now getting into the "long" runs for my SanFran training.  And I know once that once my full marathon training starts, the miles will add up quickly.

I decided to try out the 2:1 ratio on the treadmill this morning.  I didn't stick with the 2:1 the whole way through - around the middle of the run I decided to do some 1:1 intervals to make sure I had enough in me to finish out the full 45 minutes.  Knowing that I'd had to slow down in the middle, I don't know why I was so surprised by my slower average pace, but I was.  Wow.  That's slower than I've been in a LONG time.  Obviously I've got some more work to do!

Today's stats:

• 10 min. warm-up walk
• 45 min.; 3.36 mi; 13:24 min/mi avg. pace

Grandma, What Big Ears You Have!

Actually, I have the opposite problem as Little Red Riding Hood's "Grandma."  My ears seem to be unusually small...

I recently purchased a new running earbud from www.onegoodearbud.com - a wraparound style.  I tried it on when it arrived, and noticed that the stereo part of the bud didn't fit well into my ear, and the wraparound plastic earpiece was loose.  Thursday night I decided to try to run with it anyway and see how it did.  I made it two miles, fiddling with it the whole time trying to seat it correctly, before it eventually fell out, and, frustrated, I had to finish without music.

I should have realized that I wouldn't be able to use a standard earbud after all the trouble I had finding my current pair (I eventually had to buy a set with multiple size eartip and wraparound attachments and use the smallest size for both).  For this morning's long run, I switched back to my current pair and loved how they felt - didn't even notice they were in, as usual.

I don't want to discourage anyone else from trying out the onegoodearbud style - it's just not working for me.  But I really like the idea of the onegoodearbud concept - so what's a girl to do?  I'm going to get the non-wraparound style and give that one a try.  I'm hoping that the soft rubber eartip will be smaller, or if it's not, maybe I can switch out the smaller eartip I have on my current pair for the new one.  I'll let y'all know how it goes!

Today's stats:

• 10 minute walking warm-up
• 5.5 mi run/walk; 1:10:44 min; 12:52min/mi avg pace
• Hit the 100 mile mark for 2011 today!  Later than I'd hoped, but a good milestone, none the less!

Racing Through Time...

March is going to be a month packed with races.  Three out of four weekends this month I'm running in something, starting this weekend:

• Trinity River Levee Run 10K - 3/5
• Leaping Leprechaun 5K - 3/12
• Dallas Rock'n'Roll Half Marathon Relay - 3/27

I'm really looking forward to participating in each one since I'll be running with family and friends (although if I'm being honest, I'm only doing the TRL run so that I can fill an empty page in my running scrapbook before RnR [insert sheepish smile here]...)!

I had a good run tonight since it was the first chance I've had to run outside in quite a while!  Even with a lack of "speedy" running the last couple of weeks because of being sick and traveling, I still managed to pull out a pretty darn fast 3 miles - first time EVER that I've had an under 12 min/mi avg - woot, woot!!!  Granted it was just barely under 12, but hey, it's still under!

Today's stats:

• 10 min warm-up walk
• 3 mi; 35:57 min; 11:59 min/mi avg