Registration

Today is not a training day.  I'm resting.  But only because the training calendar says that's what I'm supposed to be doing today.

Nonetheless, I felt this day warranted its own blog post.  Today, September 30, 2011, is the day I bit the bullet and registered for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon!  It's scheduled for Sunday, May 20th.

And, immediately after submitting my registration payment, I just about fell out of my chair.  Before today there was a chance I was all talk.  Before today, I had an easy out.  Before today, running a marathon was just something I wanted to do.  Today it became a thing I was going to do.  A thing I planned on.  A thing I spent money on and, therefore, something I should follow through with.  That $70 registration fee just made it that much more likely that I will actually accomplish this goal after all.  And as cool as that fact is, the one thing that continues to come to mind is...

HOLY SHIT...

Day 40 (9/29): 3 miles / 30:30

Not sure why, but I was feeling incredibly sluggish at the start of my run.  I honestly didn't even mind heading downstairs to the treadmill, so I can't blame it on not being happy to be there.  I think running every other day is starting to get to me.  I'm sure my legs need the break, but I feel like there's way too much time in between runs.  I can't wait until next week when I go to only 2 days off.

All of that aside, my second and third miles weren't bad at all.  I've downloaded a few new tunes to the ipod to keep things interesting and I found myself fighting the urge to sing along.  At least when I'm in my basement I can get away with that sort of thing... but I could see me being thrown off the treadmill because I was too lost in the music to stay on the moving belt.  I should probably save my sweet dance moves for a more appropriate location.

Day 39 (9/27): 3 miles / 26:27

Perfect running weather... and a perfect husband to let me enjoy it.

Today's run was scheduled for the treadmill, but I managed to squeeze in a quick 3 miles outdoors when my husband offered to take a short break from work to watch our son.  With sunny skies and about 60 degrees, you just can't ask for much better than that.

Unfortunately, where I'm at in my training schedule, I don't have much variety to look forward to.  I have about 2 weeks of 3 mile runs, 4 days a week.  That almost seems too easy.  Of course, I do understand the reason behind it... after these two weeks, my training goes to 5 days a week and you don't want to make a huge jump in the number of miles you run from one week to the next.  The question is whether or not I'll be able to remind myself of that fact for the next 8 runs and now allow myself to go further just because I feel good.  Now that I'm running on a regular basis, I find I constantly want to push myself to see just how far I can go.  If I expect to be in this thing for the long haul, I should really listen to what the experts have to say.  I guess it's time to test just how much patience I really have...

Day 38 (9/25): 3 miles / 28:57

Looking at my time suggests that maybe I went for a leisurely jog around the neighborhood.  Truth be told, I simply ate an insane amount of food and drank an entire pot of coffee about a half hour before leaving for my run and it never occurred to me that my timing might not be the best.  This is a nice reminder that I should not drink coffee with chocolate & whipped cream and eat a foot-long steak, egg & cheese sandwich with extra cheese, mayo & onions on race day.  That's not to say I couldn't have one or the other... my research thus far only confirms I shouldn't have both.  I'm sure there will be more to follow on the subject of foods not to eat before a run.

All of that being said, I have to say that I felt pretty good.  While I didn't feel like overexerting myself today, I also didn't feel like I couldn't handle it.  I love that three miles in less than 29 minutes feels a bit leisurely to me.  I can see that I've come a long way from 37 training days ago.  I can only imagine where I'll be another 37 training days from now...

Day 37 (9/23): 5 miles / 49:15

The best treadmill run to date...

There's no question that taking care of the incline issue has drastically improved my outlook on treadmill running, but I didn't anticipate feeling good enough to add an extra mile to my planned 4 mile run.  However, in order to mix it up a little and not be so focused on the time or the number of miles remaining, I decided instead to focus on how many songs I had left to listen to before I was done.  I estimated that it would take me 13 songs to finish 4 miles, so, as each song played, I was able to track my progress without tying it to a specific distance.  As it turns out, it only takes me 11 songs to finish 4 miles and, since I'd had it in my head that I would be listening to 13, I still had 2 to go and decided to follow through on my original goal.  Apparently song 12 was a long one because I managed to finish those 5 miles just after the end of the 13th song.  For some reason, coming up with a different way to measure my progress and focusing on my music, it made those 5 miles so much easier to get through.  It felt great! 

As a side note, when I originally looked up the information for the Cleveland Marathon, I was reading the FAQs and one of them indicated that it was now acceptable to wear headphones during the race.  I originally thought I had no interest in that, but now that I've gotten used to music while I run, I'm starting to think that may not be such a bad idea.

Day 36 (9/22): 3 miles / 27:45

Cheater, cheater...

Tired of fighting the dreaded uphill battle (pun intended), I used my husband's idea and propped up the back of the treadmill so that the incline is almost unnoticeable.  While I'm sure there are safety reasons for the incline, I decided to throw caution to the wind and make my at-home workouts more bearable.  Sure, I can't say I clocked my best time ever, but at least I can say that I did it without a single swear word.

In all fairness to myself, my time wasn't actually that bad.  I averaged a 9:15 mile, which is nothing to complain about, but I must admit that I started a lot slower than I finished.  One of my rules of treadmill running is that, once I increase the speed, I do not allow myself to slow it back down.  This causes me to give myself plenty of time to warm up before settling in to a faster pace.  My first mile was actually just over 10:00, which means my second and third averaged about 8:45.  Since I know I increased the speed several times over those two miles, odds are pretty good my second mile was a little over 9:00 and my third was closer to 8:00.  Sure, I'm not exactly doing myself any favors when it comes to learning to pace myself, but at least I can say I'm constantly improving as I run :)

And it helped my mood to start off with a little David Guetta "Sexy Bitch"... I love the beat and pretend he's singing about me... which, clearly, he is... LOL :)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo_7bhk1UzA

Day 35 (9/20): 5 miles / 44:53

So, after just posting that my next mileage increase wasn't for another week, I feel the need to explain my mileage increase today.  Truthfully, it all comes back to that damn treadmill...

With my husband out of town the rest of the week, I will have no choice but to run on the treadmill on Thursday.  The training schedule calls for 4 miles today and 4 Thursday and the idea of 4 more miles on that stupid thing is already irritating me.  So, I decided to run 5 today and 3 on Thursday... same weekly mileage, but with the added benefit of fewer miles indoors.  Of course, it didn't hurt that I was itching to see how it would feel to go longer than 4...

And it felt amazing!  Don't get me wrong, I was tired when I was finished.  But, somehow, at the same time, I also knew that I could go further.  Which, is a really good thing considering how much further I'll have to go before all is said and done :)  I think that's one of the reasons I'm always so excited to increase my distance... it's a great feeling to reach the end and know that I still have a little something left.  I don't imagine I'll feel that way after 26.2, but as long as I still feel that way at 26.1, I should be in pretty good shape :)

Day 34 (9/18): 4 miles / 34:22

Another great run and, oddly enough, I spent most of my time thinking about how much I was looking forward to increasing my distance.  I was quite disappointed when I got home and saw that my next increase was still a week away.  I don't doubt there will come a time when I'll wish that 4 miles was the furthest I would have to go, but for now, I'm just so determined to get myself prepared for next year's marathon that I can't help wanting to get there faster.  I find I have to constantly remind myself that 4 miles is a long way from 26 and that I still have a very long road ahead of me.  But, I'm somehow constantly coming across inspiring books and music that make me feel so positive about accomplishing this goal.  Being positive is certainly not a bad thing, but there's a lot of work ahead and I still need to remember to take my time to avoid injury.  My marathon day will be here soon enough...

Day 33 (9/16): 3 miles / 32:18

After last night's glorious 4 miles, I was very optimistic about today's run.  So much so, in fact, that I thought I'd give the old treadmill a shot at redemption.  While my preference is always to run outdoors, waking up at 4:30 makes for less than stellar decision making.  Rather than running outside in the dark, I opted for the basement and the dreaded machine that lives there...

I started slow figuring that working myself up to top speed would be better than trying to force myself into a faster pace.  This theory worked for a short time and I managed my first mile without too much cursing.  The next half mile (and forgive me for the over-dramatic tirade that follows) was an excruciating battle between my legs and my brain.  If I hadn't been listening to Fergalicious at top volume, I'm pretty sure I would have heard my legs screaming "get the fuck off this thing!"  I kept telling myself that I'd managed 4 miles just a few days earlier and that surely I could handle 3 today, but no matter how hard I tried, my head refused to believe that 3 miles was even in the realm of possibility.  A mile and a half in and it had taken me 18:20 - a piss-poor excuse of a run as far as I was concerned.

At that point I decided I couldn't take it any more... I needed to run my last mile and a half outdoors.  The trouble was that I wanted to let my husband sleep in (he's been staying up late at night to finish his school work) and I had no idea what time my son would wake up (sometimes it's as early as 5 a.m.).  I took a chance and ditched the baby monitor on the kitchen counter and figured I'd simply run it as quickly as possible and be back before either was even aware I was gone.

Those first few steps outside were like running on clouds.  My feet felt so much lighter and I couldn't imagine how that slight incline built into the treadmill could possibly cause me so much difficulty.  I was running as fast as my legs would go and I couldn't tell whether I was trying to hurry back before my son woke up or trying to run as far away from that treadmill as I possibly could.  Either way, my last mile and a half took 13:58.

At this point the treadmill is kicking my ass and it's quickly turning into a serious mental game for me.  I'll need to learn how to conquer this thing before winter sets in or I'm going to have some serious problems sticking with my training schedule.  There's no doubt in my mind that I can handle the distance.  Now I just have to find a way to handle that incline.

Day 32 (9/15): 4 miles / 34:00

Today's run fell into the very small window of time between my work day and my husband leaving for bowling.  Normally, this window is about 20 minutes, but today was close to an hour, so I figured I could handle fitting in 4 miles.  Fortunately, this meant I was able to run outside instead of on the dreadful contraption that's taken up residence in my basement. 

And what a beautiful day for a run... 59 degrees, sunny and breezy.  My husband might call this perfect football weather, but for me, this will always be great cross country weather.

Since I was squeezing this run in while my husband was being his usual awesome self and feeding our son dinner, I decided to see if I could manage a little better than a 10 minute mile pace.  I certainly don't want my training to interfere with our usual routine... at least not yet.  My first mile was a little over 9 minutes and I felt pretty good about that.  But, apparently my new play list (thank god I finished that audio book... it was freakin' terrible!) caused me to kick it up a notch during my second and third miles because I'd managed to run closer to an 8 minute mile for each of them.  Surprisingly enough, my last mile felt great and I somehow kept that pace going.  I think the reason I'm so surprised that I managed to run 4 miles at an 8:30 pace is because, just a few weeks ago, giving it my absolute all, my 5k was at the same pace.  I couldn't really understand how I was able to run further and not slow down.  Then I thought back over the last few weeks and realized that, even though some of my improvement can possibly be attributed to my training, I'm guessing the major difference is that I quit smoking.  It's hard to believe what a difference that's made, but I've felt so much better these last few weeks.  It's enough to make me want to sign up for another 5k just to see how much better I could do.

One of my favorite things to do these days is finish the last 50+ yards as fast as I can.  I'm certainly no sprinter and I probably look pretty silly to any neighbors that happen to see me run by, but nonetheless, I love the way it feels to finish knowing that I gave it that little extra effort at the end.  So, about a quarter mile before the finish, I have to find a good song to end with.  Today's was 'Standing Outside the Fire' by Garth Brooks.  Sure, the song is actually about love... but if you ignore that part, it's actually pretty motivational and was the perfect end to today's run...

"Life is not tried, it is merely survived, if you're standing outside the fire."

Day 31 (9/13): 4 miles / 48:25

This day may go down in history as being my worst run ever.  I'm not sure if I can even put my disdain into words...

I must begin by explaining that this is my first training run on a treadmill.  I've had the luxury thus far of doing all of my training outdoors in some pretty great running weather, so there's no question I'm a bit spoiled.  Still, one wouldn't think that the ever-so-slight incline automatically built in to a treadmill would be that big of a deal.  If you'd seen me struggle through every inch of that 4 miles, you might have thought I'd had the incline jacked up at some 80 degree angle.  Let me tell you, it sure felt that way.

And struggle I did.  I kid you not when I tell you that I seriously considered quitting more than a dozen times during that run.  Even after reducing the speed to a more manageable pace, I told myself with each step that I was only going to run until the next even number (in tenths of a mile, of course), the next half-mile mark (even as early on as the .50 mile mark), the next mile (only when I was near the end of that mile - I never considered that I'd make it to 2 miles after finishing 1).  After 2.5 I told myself I was more than half way there and that I could certainly reach the end.  But, by 2.6, I was cursing myself for being such a fool as to believe I might actually be able to complete 4 miles on this damn thing.

The most interesting part of this whole crazy scenario is that I used to run on this treadmill years ago.  Not one like it or a similar model... this exact treadmill.  It used to belong to my mother who sold it years ago to an extended family member.  I got in touch with them recently because I was realizing that, with my husband's travel schedule, running outdoors would get increasingly more difficult and I would eventually need some way to put in my miles when I didn't have a babysitter.  Lucky me, they were no longer using it and were more than happy to sell it back to me.  Yeah... lucky me...

I tried the entire time to focus on my audio book.  This book is one of the worst I've ever read (well, not exactly read, but you know what I mean) and it only made my run more excruciating.  The incline setting buttons laughed at me as I struggled with the "zero incline" and I cursed them several times before my run was completed.

I can honestly say that I have no idea how I managed to get through all 4 miles.  But, I can tell you one thing for certain... that damn treadmill will be my last possible resort when it comes to training.  I plan to battle the cold, the rain, the heat and the snow long before I concede that the treadmill is my best option.  My husband's travel is going to be far more frustrating now than it's ever been in the past if it means I have to forfeit my outdoor runs.

Day 30 (9/11): 4 miles / 39:08

After starting my day with tailgating, beer drinking, jello shots and a whole bunch of junk food, I'm really impressed I was able to end my day with a nice long run...

Surprisingly enough, it actually felt really good to get out there.  It was a nice reminder that, at least for now, I don't have to give up all the fun stuff just because I'm training.

For the first mile or so, I was feeling a little sluggish and giving some consideration to ending my run at 3 miles instead of 4.  I mean, what's the difference anyway?  I could just run a little extra next time, right?  It wasn't so much that I didn't think I could finish all 4 miles... I actually think it was simply that I'm pretty used to calling it quits on my goals a little early... it's just what I do.  I thought back to my mindset in high school and I distinctly remember cutting a few corners during training now and then when I really wasn't into it.  It was never an inability... just laziness.  The difference now, of course, is that my end goal is not a faster time for a 5k... it's a much, much longer distance.  Which means that, my cutting corners now results in being unprepared for my next run, which I would also likely end early and fall into a detrimental pattern of not doing what was necessary to prepare myself.  And, since this crazy goal of mine effects no one but myself, I have to remember that the only one cheated in the long run is me.  It's time to stop taking the easy way out.  It's time to start preparing myself for a little more hard work than I'm used to.

After mile 2, more than half way through my run, I feel surprisingly re-energized.  I think, at this point, I've talked myself out of being unnecessarily lazy and I'm determined, once again, to take the necessary steps to do what needs to be done.  My next increase in mileage isn't until September 25th.  By then, this 4 mile route should be a breeze.

Day 29 (9/9): 3 miles / 30:03

Great day!  Great run!

For no particular reason at all, today seemed to be a great day.  After a productive day at work, today's run was a great way to start my evening.

I spent a little time today putting together a training calendar for myself.  I've decided to use Hal Higdon's marathon training program (http://www.halhigdon.com/) which is 18 weeks long.  This will cover January 16th through May 20th - Marathon Day.  What I needed was something to get me from now through January 16th.  http://www.marathontraining.com/marathon/marathon.html offers a 19 week training schedule meant to build up your mileage and prepare you for the difficult marathon training schedule.  And, what do you know, it's 18 and a half weeks from now until January 16th.  It is said that, if you finish those 19 weeks without injury, you should be ready to begin the marathon training program.

Today begins day 1 of my training schedule (I'm technically starting the 19 week program 4 days late, but who's counting).  The mileage buildup program takes you from 3 miles to 10, so, fortunately for me, today's run was only 3, which I'm proud to say I'm feeling quite comfortable with.  I've also read that you should be doing most of your runs at your marathon pace.  Of course, having never run a marathon before, I have no idea what my marathon pace might be.  I've decided to shoot for a 10 minute mile and, needless to say, I've managed to settle into that pace nicely.  I assume the philosophy is that, if you train at your marathon pace, as you add miles to your runs, you're not doing so at a slower speed, which means months of training at exactly the same pace.  By marathon day you should be so used to that pace that it should be a lot easier to complete without drastic changes in speed.  I guess we'll just have to see about that.  A ten minute mile for a marathon would mean a total time of 4 hours 22 minutes.  It'll be interesting to see how close I am to that in 8+ months.

Day 28 (9/7): 1 mile / 8:35

It's official - my body is built for distance - not speed. 

Knowing full well that my body requires at least a half mile of warm up, I decided to see just how fast I could finish a mile.  Needless to say, it was not so fast at all.  Not that I'm complaining about my time.  Believe me, after not running for many years, I wouldn't expect my time to be much faster than it is.  But, I do find it interesting that my one mile time is no faster than my per-mile pace running a 5k.  But, this is why I'm a distance runner...

So, here I am, fully immersed in my new running regimen and feeling really good about myself.  And, since I wouldn't want to simply be happy with the status quo, it's time to move on to something bigger and better.  I've decided to make some commitments with regard to future races... including the big one.  I've decided to run the 5 mile Turkey Trot in Cleveland on November 24th and, good lord willing, to run the Cleveland Marathon on Sunday, May 20th.  And I'm hoping to find a half marathon some time in March.  It's quite possible that I have no business training for a marathon yet, but I can't help myself.  I've decided that I'm better off committing to it early when my heart is really in it than to wait and see how I feel come January.  I've been doing some research on training programs and believe I've found one that should work for me.  The program I've chosen is 18 weeks long, so my official marathon training won't begin until mid-January.  And, as nervous as I feel about making this commitment, I have to admit, I really can't wait to get started :)

Day 27 (9/6): 3.5 miles / 33:16

Today's run was a good one - I felt great and seriously considered going another mile and a half, but I opted to play it safe instead of pushing myself too hard too fast.  I'm leaning towards a longer run tomorrow since Thursday is my scheduled day off this week. 

Even though I did a little work on putting together a play list for my ipod that had more appropriate running music, I decided to really mix things up today and listen to an audio book instead.  I can't say the book is all that interesting to me yet, but it felt good to get in a run while "reading" at the same time... I felt quite productive.  I'm not sure I'll want to go this route every day, but it was a good way to pass the time. 

Now... if only I could find a way to get a manicure and have my hair colored while running...

Day 26 (9/5): 3.1 miles / 27:19

So, after a cross training day on Saturday (at least that's how I'm referring to 2 hours on the dance floor at a friend's wedding) and a day off on Sunday (which I can neither confirm nor deny had anything to do with the alcohol consumption during said cross training), I was back to running today.  I can't say I was really in the mood for it, but I decided that today's weather was perfect running weather (we went from 95 two days ago to 65 today) and my only other excuse was that I was tired.

I did decide to mix it up a little bit today and see what kind of difference music would make on my run.  I normally like the time to myself to think about things and I find that music just distracts me.  But, what the hell... I've got at least a year of training ahead of me, so I might as well take the time to try new things.  What I got from running with my ipod was a few different things... first and foremost, 90% of my play list is drinking music.  And, while this is certainly fine for hanging out with friends, it's not exactly helpful when it comes to training.  I've decided it's time for a play list just for running.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  The second thing I learned was that I was completely accurate - music while running is a total distraction from everything else in my life.  I never used to be a fan of that fact, but I suppose lots of other things change over time, so why not this.  I found that I love the distraction.  My run flew by like it was nothing.  It doesn't take a whole lot of songs to fill 27 minutes and my run was over before I knew it.  I can only imagine how much better it will be to have songs that actually fire me up instead of make me thirsty. 

The best part of my run was the last 3/10 of a mile... obviously part of it was the fact that I was almost done, but more than that, it had started to rain and I was headed north running directly into the oncoming wind... such a fun reminder of what I used to put myself through in cross country so many years ago.  I decided I needed a good song to finish with.  Not knowing what all was in my play list and not having a ton of time to decide, I just flipped through the next few songs until I found one that seemed appropriate.  My 5k run was capped off with the first 56 seconds of "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" by Dropkick Murphys.  I can't say it's my favorite song in the world, but if the first minute of that song doesn't fire you up, I don't know what will... although I suppose it also requires a love of Irish music :)

Day 25 (9/2): 2.5 miles / 24:26

7:00 a.m. is a very busy time around this neighborhood.  The start of the school year means kids, parents and buses everywhere.  Not that I mind.  But thinking back to last weekend's race and all of the people cheering for everyone running by made me think that it sure would be nice if all of these people standing in their driveways could share a few words of encouragement as I went by.  I don't think it's too much to ask... all they're doing is standing there anyway.

On a more serious note, however... all of those kids standing around waiting for their bus made me flash forward a few years to when my son will be one of them.  I know he's only a year and a half now, but based on how fast that time has gone, I can only imagine the speed at which these next few years will pass.  Some day he'll want to walk to school because he'll be too cool to be seen with his mom.  Some day he'll want to borrow the car to go out with his friends.  And some day he'll bring home a girl that he'll hope mom and dad approve of.  Of course, that last one will be about 35 years from now since it will be at least that long before I let him date.  Sure, I may be jumping a bit too far ahead, but thinking about these things makes me appreciate all of the things that sometimes seem frustrating, like when he holds on to my leg and cries when I drop him off at daycare or when he says "mommy" a thousand times for what appears to be no reason at all.  There may come a time when he's too busy to call me at all, so I'll take him calling me "mommy" as many times as he likes for as long as he's willing to do it :)

Day 24 (9/1): 1.5 miles / 14:05

I've had two and a half glasses of wine since finishing my run, so at this point I just don't have much to say.  All I've got is...

This shit's gettin' easier every day...