3 Days until the Wine & Dine Half Marathon!

As you know, I haven't been training for the upcoming Wine & Dine Half Marathon.  I feel like I can do 1/1 intervals and maintain a 16 minute mile, so while I am not very happy with myself, I am feeling like I can finish ahead of the sweepers.

I can choose to feel one of two ways about this:

1) Worried and bummed out because I could have made this an effortless run and maybe gotten a PR, or at least had more time for photo ops along the route; or

2) Relaxed and happy that I am not pushing myself and just taking it as it comes with maximum enjoyment.

I do believe I will choose the latter.  In my previous Disney races, I was so stressed and while they were fun, I over-thought everything - from my pace to costuming.  I didn't appreciate the experience enough.  This time, I am going to go into this race feeling excited, grateful, and relaxed!

Plus, I get to run through this:

I'm actually getting pretty excited!  It won't be totally easy, but I don't have to make it harder than it needs to be.  I have a last minute costume idea (if it works out, cool - if not, I have a Sparkle Skirt and top to wear) and I get a whole week at WDW after the race.  How can I stress about that?!?

Lastly, I found this cute article online about 37 of the happiest things you see while running a race and it makes me remember the fun and wonderful parts of running.  I am going to have a good time!  I am going to forgive myself for not training harder and go get this done.  When I get home, I am recommitting to many things that I need to move my life forward - including training my butt off for my 2014 races.


It's on - starting NOW!

Volunteer Report - Raleigh City Of Oaks 2013

My morning started very early, but thankfully Daylights Savings Time meant it started an hour later than my body thought it was.  Today was the Raleigh City Of Oaks Marathon and Half Marathon!  Last year, this was my first ever half marathon and I have fond memories of the cheerful volunteers encouraging me to keep going when I was oh-so-tired.  So this year, I decided to be a cheerful volunteer!

I arrived at my intersection at 6am.  In retrospect, I am not sure why they asked us to be there so early.  A police officer did not come by to clear the course (as we were told) and the road did not officially close until 7:30am.  I sat in my car inflating balloons until 7:30 and made a big poof for my back and two pom-poms for my wrists.

 

I wanted to do something fun that would make people smile as they ran by.  It's kind of the RunDisney spirit in me, I guess.  Part of what makes Disney runs so fun is the DISTRACTION of bright and colorful characters.  So, that's me today - a bright and colorful character!

The race started at 7am and I was located at the intersection of Brooks and Kilgore at mile 9.3.  The first super-fast runner came by at 7:48am, running what had to be 5 minute miles.  He did not smile or enjoy my cheers outwardly, but I'm sure all his energy was being spent moving forward more quickly than I ever will be able to.  About a minute later, the second guy came by, then about 10 more before the first woman came through.

I noticed something about these fast runners... they really aren't smilers.  I didn't have too many smiles or happy faces until the 9 minute mile folks came along.  Then it was non-stop smiling and high fives until the 12 minute mile people were all through.  By the 13 minute pace, most people were unhappy again - many struggling to just finish the race.  Those are my people, so I know how they feel.  However, I hope I smiled more at the volunteers when I was slow and tired.  I will definitely make a point to do so going forward.

The clearing pace police cars came up behind a small group of walkers and I was told to clear the intersection.  There were a few people walking with bibs behind the police cars on the sidewalks and I cheered for them as I packed up my stuff and de-ballooned myself.

I learned a lot being a race volunteer today.  First, I really am inspired by the happy, middle-of-the-pack people.  They really seemed to be enjoying running and were so pleasant.  Many thanked me for volunteering and several stopped to take their picture with me - which I thought was so fun.  I want to be those people - faster, yes... but HAPPY and ENJOYING RUNNING.  That was a really cool thing to see.  Second, I am so proud of those who kept moving forward when they were getting passed and when the pace car was nipping at their heels (and even passing them).  Maybe they didn't have a lot of smiles to give, but they were working just as hard as that unsmiling first guy and probably using their energy just the same as he was - to keep going as fast as they could toward the finish line.

I will definitely volunteer again!  Not only did I have a great time, but check out this sweet swag:

So... yeah. I haven't been training.

I started!  I did!  But life has been a little sketchy and truthfully, I haven't sorted it out well enough to make the time to train.  I am fairly horrified with myself.  I have the Wine & Dine Half Marathon in a week and needless to say, it won't be a PR.  But it's a Disney race done for fun & pictures, so my expectations are low.  It's also a 16 minute mile pace, so I know I can walk most of the time if necessary.

This doesn't take away from my shame of not training, though.  Like I said above, I've got some things going on in my personal life that are dragging me down and that makes it hard to find the motivation to get moving.  The ironic part is that I feel better when I work out so I am double-punishing myself.

I am not really excited about Wine & Dine for a few reasons.  First, I do not feel at top running form and that's a crappy feeling when going into a race.  Second, I am completely unmotivated to make a costume and the SparkleSkirt I wanted to order is sold out in my size.  I don't even have something cute to wear and you KNOW that's part of the reason I even run!

There is not too much I can do in the next seven days to get more prepared.  I'm going to go and do the best I can.  I'll probably finish just this side of the Balloon Ladies.  That's cool... as long as I do finish!

After the race, I am spending the week at WDW with my friend Chris without the kids.  It's the first time I've been to WDW without the babies since they were born.  I don't know how I feel about it.  I want to go and have some adult fun, but I think I've forgotten how!

This may be my whiniest post ever.  I'd love to delete it, but I feel like being honest with myself means being honest with you.  The thing is, I think mentally I am waiting to get back from W&D to really get started on my plan.  For some reason, I feel like I need to get this done and then I can concentrate on moving forward.  Lordy, I hope so.  I need to get moving.

So this post isn't a complete loss, here's a sloth handing you a flower:

Commitment Issues are BAD

I was re-reading SwimBikeMom's book yesterday and she mentioned a magnet she had on her fridge that says:

 

This is an interesting question and I have been thinking about it a lot as I plan for my 2014 races.  On one hand, I am overwhelmed at the two I've already committed to - a full marathon (really, Lisa?) and a half Ironman (almost comical).  I think I've got a training plan that will prepare me, but I have already been lax on getting back to training for the upcoming half marathon in TWO WEEKS.  My problem seems to not be in creating goals or even attempting them, my problem seem to be in consistent effort to work towards the event.  Am I not consistent because I am inherently flaky?  Am I not consistent because IF I fail, that will be a good excuse?  Do I not want to commit 100% to something because I have (well-documented - just ask my ex) commitment issues?

I don't know the answer.  But it is something I need to figure out before I am successful at anything in life, let alone these races that REQUIRE that level of commitment before the event.

I watch this new show called Boundless on the Esquire Channel.  It is about two endurance athletes attempting different races all across the world.  I love it because on race day, they seem as unprepared as I have been for races.  By that I mean, they have trained for the event (sort-of) but they aren't real, real serious or safe about it.  They never trained in open ocean water for an 8hr ocean paddle board race.  They hadn't been biking in years before a grueling mountain bike race.  Junk like that.  DUMB.  I look at them attempting things they think they can not fail and all I can think is: BUT YOU HAVEN'T TRAINED FOR THIS!!  Even if they succeed, how much easier would it have been if they were better prepared?

And that is my own problem.  I don't worry about failure too much - I am pretty convinced I can do anything I set my mind to.  But at what commitment level is my mind set to to do the work to reach that goal beforehand?

 

I think my body is amazing in that it can keep chugging along no matter the pain or fatigue it's experiencing.  I think my mind is strong because I don't give up when I know I have a goal.  So what is holding me back from committing to full time, full-court-press training?  Why is it so easy to skip the training sessions I KNOW I need to do in order to be the most successful?

 

If I figure this out for training, can I use it to change my whole life?!?

 

In looking at 2014, I'd like to do at least one race event per month, with the possible exception of March when I'll be pretty busy with World Balloon Convention, where I'll be teaching.  (Maybe a sprint tri for that month.)  I'd like to do another Oly before the half Iron but a lot of smaller races aren't scheduled yet.  I'll probably have to wait until closer to the time to see what is available within my reasonable travel distance.  I definitely want to do the Outer Banks Tri in September again to see how much I can improve on my Olympic time there with an extra year of training.  The two other major races I was considering are the Rock N Roll Full Marathon in Raleigh on my birthday (April 13th), and the Beach2Battleship in Wilmington (the half-Iron distance - I want my first full Iron to be Ironman branded).

 

Big goals.  Now I need to see if I've got the commitment to follow through on them...

 



Scotchy Scotch Scotch

This post has nothing to do with running, but everything to do with why I am chubby.

 

Best ice cream related news ever:  Ben & Jerry's Anchorman Ice Cream

Anchorman is my FAVORITE movie of all time!  Fortunately, I like butterscotch because I will be eating Anchorman ice cream regardless of the flavor.

Here's the new trailer from Anchorman 2:

 Ok, enough of that.  I rode 15 miles in a little under an hour on the stationary bike yesterday.  I am due to run 5 miles today.  Trying to do my runs later in the day or evening to get more prepared for Wine & Dine.  I'm pretty sure there is a 50% chance it won't happen since I'll have to do it after dinner and that's the time I start checking out.  I also have a volunteer meeting for the City Of Oaks Marathon.  I am going to be a course monitor since I am not running this year.  I'm thinking that it makes better sense to run in the day (when I know I will do it), than wait for evening (when I can talk myself out of it).

Back to training - speedy style!

It's been exactly one month since my first triathlon and despite my well-meaning intentions, it was also the first day I went back to the gym since then.  I know!!  I feel your scorn from here.

Wil ran with me and we totally looked this cool!

I ran 4 miles in my fastest time ever.  Wait - what?  Should I take a month off more often?

What?  I'm IN TRAINING, obvs.

Since I have three weeks to get back in shape for a half marathon, probably not.  In fact, I don't see myself slowing down until... well, maybe the end of triathlon season next year.  I can half-ass a Disney half marathon, but I can't do that for the full and I especially can't do it for a half-Ironman.  I have a plan and now I have a little momentum.  I'd also like to lose 10lbs (if possible) before I go to Wichita to make the balloon videos. I have until the first part of December for that goal.

So.... Yay for getting back to doing what I should be!

I'm tired just thinking about it.

Yes, exhausted.  "Thinking about what?" you ask? 

It's the 10pm start of the Wine & Dine Half three weeks from today. 

 

This is me at 6:30pm most nights.  It's about time to call it a day.

I go to bed at 10pm.  The only reason I don't go to bed earlier is because the kids are up.  But I'm tired!  I get up before 6am and go non-stop until dinner is over and I can start to relax.

Here's my expected response to waiting in Corral I while all the earlier corrals go first.

I keep telling myself I need to run later in the day, to get used to it... but I am soooooooo tired by 9pm that it is almost a comical conversation with myself.

Self: "It's 9pm!  How 'bout a quick run before bed?
"Self? Self?!?  Wake up!"

 I do have a chemical helper, if need-be.  My doctor gave me something called NuVigil, which is for people who work night shift and can't stay up.  It's also to keep soldiers alert during combat.  Is this doping?  I'm not sure I like this option!

The race should last until at least 1am for me. 
I was not fully aware that there was a "1" twice in the same day since I am never awake for both.

I do have three weeks to practice staying up!  Is that enough time??  I'm not even concerned about the run training (which I really should be!).  I am worried about maintaining alertness and not falling over during the race.  Or worse!  At the after-party that goes on until 4am.  

 

Finish line photo.  Smiles and then night-night.

I plan to take it really easy on Saturday so that I am rested.  No parks and maybe even a nap if I can manage it.  I am not much of a napper, though.  I guess the next three weeks need to be spent staying up for 15 minutes later each night.  Wish me luck!  This will be my biggest challenge!!