I'm baaaaack!

Ok, I've been away.  Regrouping.  And I didn't want to post until I had my act at least somewhat together.  (Note the "somewhat"!  I am still very much a work in progress!)

The last three weeks, I have started doing a 30 minutes bike followed by 30 minutes on the treadmill at least three days a week.  I have done a longer (1 hr) treadmill on Saturday or Sunday.  I am only walking fast on the treadmill, but will start working in intervals next week.

I am trying to not expect perfect fitness and perfect speed right away - which is really hard for me!  I honestly think one week at the gym should make a huge difference and it just doesn't.  I read somewhere recently that it takes 6 weeks to see improvement, so I hope to see better results then.  But until then, I have got to celebrate the small victories (who I am kidding - HUGE victories) of just getting out there and doing it each day.

I am 8 weeks away from Dumbo.  I am doing back to back Friday and Saturday longer runs to prepare.  Two weeks after Dumbo, I have an Olympic Triathlon (the Outer Banks Tri that I did last year) so I CAN NOT SLACK.

Ok - this is my public declaration.  I will try my best and work hard now through Dumbo, through the Oly Tri, through Wine & Dine, and keep moving forward.  I can't be discouraged that I am not faster.  I must appreciate that I am just getting out there.

Race Recap - NCRC Classic 10K

Well, this was... humbling.

I honestly have been telling myself that a 10k was nothing to get too worked up about and my inconsistent training was not going to stop me from attaining my time goals.

HA.

HAHA.

I didn't respect the distance or train enough and, oh man... did I pay for that. Here's the breakdown:

What?  No balloon arch?  Sad.

The Good:  I PR'd!  Not as fast as I wanted but faster than my last 10k.  So that was awesome!  And I wasn't last, so there's that.  I really thought I would be last for the first couple of miles but then I passed some people and at turnaround saw that there were even more people further behind me.

The Bad: The first mile was soul-crushing.  I huffed and puffed and suffered.  I thought about turning around and quitting.  Not in that, "It'd be nice to quit" way, but in a very serious, "OMG, I'm going to have a heart attack if I take one more step" way.  By mile 2, I had found a groove but I already figured out my time goal was a pipe dream.

This came just at the right time to keep me moving.

The Ugly: The last .2 of the 6.2 was a monster hill.  The half marathon leaders were passing me and they even walked up the hill.  Here's my elevation chart from Garmin:

 

The downhill didn't feel that significant on the first mile, but at the end... oh my stars... my final .41 mile was at an 18:58 pace if that gives you any idea of how bad it was.  That was the second time I wondered if quitting was an option.  I literally have no idea what kept me moving up that hill.  I thought about my kids, my IRun4 buddy Garin, and the Swim, Bike, Mom mantra, "Just Keep Moving Forward".  And I guess it worked because I made it.  But it was an exhausting way to end a race I was not prepared for.

Lessons Learned:  At some point, this lesson is going to sink in.  I MUST TRAIN FOR RACES.  Train like it's a serious thing.  I mean, really.  It's getting embarrassing to be me.

Best Part:  I looked cute!  I wore my Everest SparkleSkirt over tights (because it was in the low 50s this morning!) and big eyelashes.

I ran this race to submit a time to Disney for my upcoming Dumbo Double Dare and Wine & Dine.  I am wondering if I will though.  The time is not what I had hoped and last time, I didn't submit a time and got in 3 corrals from the last.  If I take the lessons learned part to heart and do some training, I can handle being in the last corral.  It's not the end of the world.  Maybe any time submitted is better than no time submitted?  I don't know.  I'll have to see if any RunDisney experts chime in on the comments.






Before the race!

After the race!  Still smiling!

UGH - Reality Check Pants

Ok, it's been a rough couple of weeks.  A root canal, a DNS, and basically not doing anything to train has been a big challenge.  As I mentioned in my "boo-hoo, I'm bipolar" post, I did get a change to my medication and I do believe it is improving my attitude.  So, that's great!  But now I need to look at what I've done to myself during my last few months of backslide.

Reality Check #1 is that I have got a 10k that is my time qualifier for the upcoming Disney races (Dumbo Double Dare and possibly Wine & Dine) that is in two weeks.  I am not TOO stressed, but I don't want to struggle.  My goal is just to finish with a good enough time to keep me out of the last Disney corral.

Reality Check #2 (and the biggie) is a hard pill to swallow... It's a pair of capri shorts that fit just great about 2 months ago and now I can't zip up without major effort.  NOT COOL.  I don't feel like I have been totally pigging out, but stress and depression eating happens, and must have in these dark times.

SO!  What to do now?  I'm about 20 lbs from my lowest Weight Watchers weight of about 4 months ago, so that 20 lbs needs to go before I tackle the rest.  It will get me back into my capris and down to a size where I feel good (not great, but good - and hey, good is GOOD).  I'm just going to go back to tracking calories and daily work outs and see if that naturally takes care of the problem.  If not, I'll have to reevaluate in a few weeks.

That's the plan!  Anyone have any advice for getting faster in two weeks?

Day (I've officially lost track) of 100 (AND Princess Half Recap List!!)

Yesterday I added weight training so within weeks, I will be ripped like Linda Hamilton in Terminator!!  While I'm super excited for these excellent muscles, today I feel like I've been beaten in all my tender places.  :(

I also ran yesterday and since I have been somewhat inconsistent and have been wanting to increase my intervals, I re-started Couch 2 5k from Day One.  It was not terribly hard, with 1 minute run/ 90 secs walk, but I pushed hard on the intervals and did the whole thing.  Recall from previous posts that I peter out at halftime, regardless of the length of run.  I was pleased that I didn't give in to that little voice that tells me I can just skip a run interval and pick back up again next time.  I never do.  It's all walky-walky after I cave in.

 

Now then, you are invited to consider my big dilemma!  I was in Japan during the Dumbo Double Dare sign up.  To be honest, as much as I wanted to do this race, I just didn't see it in the cards for 2014 so the sign up day came and went without much thought.  Also, I was in Japan so I was pretty consumed with thinking about any food I could eat other than rice.

Imagine my surprise when I got an email from RunDisney saying I was signed up!  What?  Yes, well, that guy who's not really my boyfriend signed me up without my knowledge/consent/permission the day it went on sale.  So, I have mixed feelings because on one hand, DUMBO DOUBLE DARE - YAY!! And on the other, airfare and hotel and park tickets, oh my.

Also, if I'm going all the way to Disneyland for a race, I might as well do that Coast to Coast thang again. I was thinking of doing Wine & Dine anyway.  My question with this is that our big local race, City Of Oaks, is the weekend before W&D and I hate to miss it again.  Last year, I volunteered, but it was my first half and it holds a special place in my heart.  I could probably do both on back to back weekends, but do I want to?  It seems like you need a burning fire in your heart to want back to back halves.

 

Speaking of RunDisney, it was just Princess weekend and man, I missed not being there.  I think I will try to be a charity runner next year.  I've got to figure out a way to do more Disney races without selling my much-needed organs.  Here are some 2014 Princess Half Recaps.  I'll add more as I find them of  if you have one, please leave it in the comments!  (Here's mine from Princess 2013.)

Disney Princess Half Marathon Race Recaps - 2014:
Rachel - Undercover Diva: A Sitcom
Amy - The Point One Will Getcha

Amy - Mom's Magical Miles
Catie - Thank You For Running
Amanda - Disney Everyday
Tabetha - I Run On Water
Karen - Losing The Glass Slipper
Heather - Run Heather, Run: 26.2 or Bust
Meranda - Fairytales and Fitness
Jennifer - JennFaulk.com
Erika - Running Toward My Happy Ending
Amy - The Relocated Tourist
Bonnie - 'Cuse Runner Girl
Lauren - Will Run For Disney
April - Run The Great Wide Somewhere
Kara - Makeup, Cupcakes & Running
Julie - Run.Walk.Fastpass.Repeat.
Hildarys - Running Through Theme Parks
Patty - Margaritas, Miles & the Mouse
Laura - Run. Write. Rejoice.

And tell me, what should I do about my fall race schedule?  I only did my race goals for the first six months of 2014!!