No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn!

Well, I ran another 5 miles yesterday and I’m definitely feeling it in my quads today. As the day goes on I’m feeling less sore but my desk job doesn’t help so I need to get up and walk a little every hour to avoid stiffening up too much.

I just had to run yesterday. The weather was beautiful and I was able to leave work a little early. I kept saying to myself that I would just run 2 or 3 miles but 5 was on the schedule for my next run (which should’ve been today) for training so I went out with one goal but finished strong!

That was my first back-to-back longish runs… ever, so I’m very proud of myself! 15 miles in 2 days. Not too shabby.

I’m taking a rest day today but I’ll be back to a 45-min tempo run on Wed and then a 3-mile run on Thu. Brooklyn is only 18 days away. I’m feeling stronger about it lately since I got back into a more consistent training routine.

As the Beastie Boys said, “No Sleep ‘Till Brooklyn!”

10 Miles

Wow. This was my first 10-mile run since September when I did my last half. I would definitely say it went well but boy, was it hard in spots. I always try to remember that if it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. Seems like a good thought.

I kept my mantra going in my head the whole time. "Run Strong, Be Positive." Then when the run started to get more and more difficult, I changed the mantra to "Run Strong, Stay Positive." It really seemed to help.

I had tried this 10-mile training run last Sunday but the negative thoughts took over and I just didn't have it in me. I was proud of myself for doing 5 miles though. I just knew I needed to tackle the 10 especially before Brooklyn which is in 3 weeks.

I did something new this week. I tried carb-loading. I figured it was worth a shot just to see if it would change my energy level. I didn't really notice a difference. I had a little more energy at the beginning of the run but I'm attributing that to the fact I hadn't run in 3 days. I don't think I'll try carb loading again until I train for a full at some point.

Speaking of a full marathon, I'm still toying with the idea of training for the full instead of the half for New Orleans in January. The thought of that is extremely daunting though. I mean, running more than double what I ran today in one shot??? How would that even be possible? I have no idea. I do know that I am going to focus on losing weight after Brooklyn. I'm sure that losing the extra weight will help. I'm thinking between 30-50 lbs. I would imagine I'll have a better idea once I get closer as to what feels good.

Happy Running!

No More Excuses!

We’ve all had issues with not wanting to run. You aren’t feeling 100% or maybe you are tired, feeling off, having a rough day, well, there are all sorts of reasons or excuses.

I’m having that kind of time right now. I should be training for my half coming up on 5/17 and I’ve only run twice in the last week.

Why have I run so little? I’m trying to figure it out. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been sleeping well. I haven’t been feeling myself lately. I guess there could be all sorts of reasons and excuses but basically I just need to do it and if doing it for myself isn’t enough, do it for people who can’t. For people who would love to be out there but are unable to be. I need to keep reminding myself of that.

Either way, I’m going to get out there today after work. Either to the gym or outside but I’m going to do it dammit!

A short but effective post I’d say.

An Amazing Run!

It was an beautiful Spring day. It was an amazing 8-mile run.

What a way to start a post, right?

Seriously though, (ok, kind of) yesterday’s run was one of those rare ones. The last couple of weeks have been challenging for me. Between not feeling well 2 weeks ago (for the whole week) and then not wanting to run much at all last week, yesterday made up for all of it.

I just kept an even pace and didn’t need to stop to walk as much as I usually do. I’m averaging around a 12-13 min/mile pace when I run but then you add the walking in and it’s around 13:53. That’s pretty amazing considering the treadmill is always over 15 min/mile. It just goes to show you that you really do have more control when you are running outside which sounds a little odd but really makes sense when you think about how the treadmill just keeps you at an even, boring pace all the time.

With the whole not feeling well 2 weeks ago, that started my not eating too well again. I started eating more bread which is my biggest downfall. I’m starting to cut that back. I know a big part of my being able to run more comfortably and better is going to be losing weight. I’m getting back on track with it because especially during yesterday’s great run, I know it could’ve been better if I wasn’t carrying around an extra at least 30 lbs.

So, that’s my goal for this week. To start getting better with the eating again and make sure I track everything through MyFitnessPal.

Another thing about my run yesterday is how it’s amazing what a different perspective it put on things after I was done. I’m now really looking forward to Brooklyn next month and thinking about setting up a plan for the 3 months between Brooklyn and September when I’ll start training for the New Orleans race in January.

I will be introducing weight training and cross training during that time so I’ll be looking for a kind of between races kind of thing and then carry the weight training and cross training into the September training.

Exciting stuff! Well, here’s to getting through another Monday!

Feeling Better, Perfect Running Weather and A Confession

                                                     I love this weather!

Last week's feeling crappy has finally passed. Thank God! Enough was enough.

I played a half day of hooky today to get out and run. It's been a long, hard winter here in Upstate NY and once I heard it was going to be in the 50's and sunny, that's all it took. I worked for 4 hours, came home, changed and put 4 miles in the books.

Unfortunately I'm now a week behind on my training but I'll make the best of it and do what I can do. As of today I've decided I'm going to do a much better job of focusing on the positive than on the negative. If negative thoughts start creeping up like what I'm not doing or what I haven't done, I'm going to stop and ask myself about the things I HAVE done and what I plan to do. There's no reason to be negative. I've come amazingly far in my strides of becoming healthier over the past 3 years and I need to remember these things anytime the negative stuff starts popping up in this head of mine. I'm going to type them out to show you and this will help me also be able go back and look at the list.

1. I've lost 117 lbs over the past 3 years. I am working on losing 20-30 more.
3. I'm working on eating healthy and mainly eating things with ingredients I recognize as whole and not processed and/or chemicals.
4. I've run many 5k's and 2 half marathons. I'm training for my 3rd half now. Oh yeah, it's in Brooklyn baby!
5. I registered for the New Orleans Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon in January 2015 but I'm going to train for the full. If I feel comfortable, I have until the end of Nov to upgrade to the full.

New Orleans + My First Full. Now that rocks! But hey, I'm going to do it if I'm ready. If I'm not, I'm going to rock the half. ;)

How's that for positivity?!