What's Worse Than a Race-Morning?

I don't handle (most) race mornings very well (Disney races are a different story).  I get very quiet and go inside my head to freak out about every possible little thing that could go wrong during the race, including the dreaded DNF...  It's not a pretty thing to behold.

So what's the one thing that strikes more fear in my heart than a race morning?  Car shopping.  Ugh.  Is there anything worse?  My wonderful little 1997 CR-V and I have reached the point where we're going to part ways within the next 6 months or so - she's being replaced by a younger, sleeker model (yes, sadly, she's the "first-wife" of cars).

credit: http://autos.aol.com/article/used-cars-accident-history/

My stomach clenches and my palms get sweaty just thinking about dealing with salesmen and bankers.  I like living in my safe little world with no pressure and no car payments.

But, moving on - onward and upward - better things ahead - keep moving forward - it will be worth it in the end - etc.  Surely all those motivating running slogans can apply here, right?

Maybe there will even be beer at the finish, lol.

21...and Done!

Saturday morning was my last truly long run before MCM.  21 Miles.  Wowsah.  While I was not exactly looking forward to a run that long, I knew I could do it, with 20 and 16 milers under my belt in the last 6 weeks.

So, in the 5am darkness on a muggy, rainy, morning, my group and I took off.  Although the humidity was brutal, the first loop around the lake was no big deal.  Then we turned off the lake and went up into the neighborhoods and hit the hills.  (And this particular area has a set of hills known as "The Dolly's" in reference to Dolly Parton's rather generous...curves...ahem.  LOL.)  Still, we persevered and made it back down to the lake at mile 12.  We took a quick bathroom and re-fueling break, then headed back out for one more loop of the lake...and yes, it was still raining.

I hit a really rough spot mentally around mile 18, and I found myself fighting back tears.  I was tired, soaking wet, cranky, and seriously doubting my ability to run the first 20 miles of MCM at the needed "beat the bridge" pace.  However, my awesome group got me through it and we continued on, finally getting back to our cars and post-run golden oreos (yum!).

3 of my group members & me post-run...and dripping wet (even though it doesn't look like it in the pic)!

Photo proof!  21 done!

I got home, examined my new blisters (even with tons of lube, with all that rain, blisters were inevitable), took an ice bath, and put on my recovery/compression gear.  We opened the doors to the now rain-cooled temperatures and let the cats explore the backyard a bit while I relaxed on the couch.  I spent the rest of the afternoon watching a couple movies and the Longhorn football game, virtually "cheering" on a bunch of my friends running the Disney Tower of Terror 10 Miler, and finally I crashed hard around 11pm and got some sleep.

So, now those super-long runs are done for this particular training cycle!  It's taper, taper, taper from here on out!  The next 3 weekends call for 12, 10, and 8 milers, respectively.  Thank goodness - those are going to be some very full weekends anyway, even without trying to squeeze long runs in!

• Do y'all ever have trouble mentally pushing through a run when you know your body can do it?
• How do you deal with race-related fears?
• Any helpful ideas for coping with the stress I'm feeling worrying about pace for MCM?

Where to Begin?

I have so many things I'm excited about right now, I don't even know where to begin!

First, RunDisney revealed the new 20th Anniversary WDW Marathon medal today!  It's in color, it spins, and it has two great Walt Disney quotes etched into it.  I CANNOT wait to get my hands on this thing!  I'm already anticipating bawling like a baby when I cross the finish line and receive the medal.  So many of my ROTE friends are running Mickey this year, too, so we're basically planning one big rolling party at the "back of the pack."  It's going to be epic.  Only 152 days to go!

 As an additional bonus, they also updated the RunDisney website - go check it out!  The new pages are much better organized and intuitive, with all the info you could want/need within a few easy clicks!

Second, Marine Corps is now only 75 days away.  10 weeks from this Sunday.  I have to admit that my excitement over this one is definitely heightened by fear.  The time requirement is still scaring the bejeezus out of me...  But when I start freaking out about it, I try to calm myself down by repeating the mantra of the marines "Earned Never Given."  And I know that if I can stand in front of a marine at that finish line then that will be a defining moment in my life.  That knowledge makes me excited for a weekend that also terrifies me - oxymoronic, I know, but hey - that's pretty typical me.

Third, my online running group, Running of the Ears, just made a "gear" order, and I bought a new tech shirt, a tech tank, and a logo Tshirt.  They look so great!  I took the new tech shirt on a 9 mile test run on Saturday and it felt comfortable and wicked wonderfully!  Looking forward to being part of the "sea of red" that ROTE promises to be at all the Disney races this year! 

Lastly, I still have a little bit of a "happy hangover" from San Francisco.  Rather than hanging up my two half medals and the "Half It All Challenge" medal on my medal rack, they are still sitting out on my kitchen counter, where I can see them and smile every day.  I'll even pick up the challenge medal and spin it a bit and it gives me the warm fuzzies.  Can't believe it's been two and a half weeks already!  And yes, I know I still need to do a race report - I'm using waiting on pics from my mom as an excuse.

And, oh yeah!  Training's still going well.  Nine miles last Saturday morning (should've been 8.5 per the map, but we missed a turn and had to backtrack a bit...ooops).  Last week I got in 3 bootcamp strength training sessions, my two short runs, and my long run.  This week I seem to be on track for another successful completion of my weekday training plan.  And...Saturday has a 19-20 miler on tap.  Whew.  That'll be a big hurdle to get over!

Where Has All the Motivation Gone?

Remember my last post about being back in the game?  So much for that...because I'm not.  In fact, I'm not even standing on the sidelines - more like I'm up in the nosebleed seats watching the small dots scurry around on the field.  This is not good.

I don't know why my motivation has left me.  But it needs to come back, and it needs to come back SOON!

It certainly hasn't helped that I caught some kind of crud back at the end of January and have not been able to shake it - I still have a lingering cough that is downright miserable/painful at times.  And I'm pretty sure I also had/have a pretty hefty case of post-race blues.  Combine those two, and it's the perfect storm of weeks full of excuses for not running.  But it's more than that, I think...

So, about that darn motivation.  This is something I'm really struggling with right now.  I just completed a MARATHON!!!  I got my Coast-to-Coast medal!(ummm...yes, I know, I still haven't posted my Tink race report).  Why am I not pumped about running more races?  Here's the truly odd part - I am excited about running more races.  I'm signed up for quite a few this year that I can't wait to participate in!  Some are just for fun with friends, some are goal races where I'll need to push myself in training and in racing, and some that are a combination of the two.  So why can't I translate that excitement into energy and motivation to get my butt off my couch and go DO something about it?

I'm know I'll get back in the groove eventually.  While I try to figure this out, anyone have any tips?  Any tricks to fool myself into thinking I want to get back out there until I actually really and truly do?

Naughty or Nice: The Jury's Still Out

Hmmm.  Looking back over the last year of running, I think I can truthfully say that the overall verdict is for the year will be "Nice."  Looking back at the last month or so, however... the jury's still out.

 So, let's take a look:

Nice This Month:

• I ran the North Texas Turkey Trot (5K) on Thanksgiving Day;
• I ran the White Rock Half Marathon on 12/4;
• Ran the Great North Texas Santa Run (5K) on 12/10;
• Ran a 20 mile training run on 12/16 - last long run of this training season;
• Ran a 9 mile training run this weekend - tapering has begun!

Naughty This Month:

• I skipped almost all of my mid-week short runs due to illness (really bad cold & nasty cough), or in some cases, just plain laziness;
• My average pace has gotten slower over the last few months;
• My overall nutrition and fueling has really fallen off and I'm feeling it;
• I'm not going to make my goal of running 700 miles this year.

I'm really not sure if those lists balance out - so for now, the jury's still out.  There's just been a lot going on lately.

I hope everyone had Happy Holidays!

Saturday's White Rock Loop:

• 9 miles; 2:11:47; 14:38min/mi average pace

Doubting the Distance

Today marked 8 weeks until the Walt Disney World Marathon.  And thanks to a not-so-great run yesterday morning, I am starting to doubt my decision to pursue the full marathon distance.

My pace group sort of fractured this week - only 3 of us showed up to do the full training distance.  One guy decided to bump up to one of the faster groups, and one of the guys bumped down to the slowest group.  I knew that there was no way I was going to stick with the faster group, and the slower group was doing 1:1 intervals, which is what I prefer anyway, so I decided to go with them.  They were planning on a 16-17mm, which seemed so slow, but for the planned distance (22-23 miles), made sense.

It was a cool, overcast, very windy morning around the lake.  About halfway around the second loop, and at approximately 13.5 miles, I was really starting to feel tired and worn out.  Chatting with one of the other group members, we decided to start walking at mile 14, and just re-evaluate how we felt periodically about starting to run/walk again.  We eventually ended up walking the rest of the second loop and stopping at 18.2 miles.  A disappointing finish for me - but I do have one more 20+ mile run left before Disney so I wasn't too upset about it.

As we finished out the loop, we were talking about our planned races and discussing training and race day concerns.  Having completed two 18-mile and one 21-mile training runs now, I am doubting my decision to try to do more full marathons (specifically ones on my bucket list like MCM).  Now that I'm deep in the heart of full marathon training, I'm realizing just how hard this is.  I knew it would be.  But, really, this is HARD.  I truly don't know that I have it in me to do it again.

At this point in my training, I'm not doubting my ability to finish the Disney Marathon (knock on wood - unless something injury-related happens).  But I'm definitely going to have to wait until after Disney to make a determination on whether this distance is something that is really meant for me.

Saturday's Run:

• 18.22 miles; 5:02:59; 16:38 min/mi