It's On!

Well, it's official. I've upgraded my half marathon status to the full marathon for the Rock 'N Roll New Orleans Marathon on 1/25/15!

Nervous, excited, antsy, blah, blah, blah. Sure, I feel like all of those things but hey, I've left myself plenty of time to train (I don't need to start until September) and I've done 3 halfs so I already know how to kick some training ass!

So for now I'm still doing the June run streak for suicide awareness. Today was day 17. I average about 1.5 miles/day and I'm still going strong. Hubby and I are weight training together and I also do some different machines on my own on days when he doesn't go so all is going well with that.

I'm still waiting for the layoffs at work. They should happen this week or next. I'll be happy when they are finally over. The stress of waiting isn't good for any of us.

Happy Running!

New Hope

The June run streak for suicide awareness is still going strong. Today will be day 11. I also started weight training last week. I will be starting the core work soon.

One of the great things about the weight training has been my husband going with me. We root each other on while on each machine. It’s been a great experience so far. We are doing 3 machines for legs and 3 machines for arms together and then on days he doesn’t going with me, I do 6 other machines on my own. He really likes that this hasn’t been stressful to get into. He puts a lot of pressure on himself and this has been a no-pressure situation so far.

We are also both eating better and I’ve dropped 3 lbs already. I usually drop it quick the first week or 2 but it will even out. 27 lbs to go till my goal. I’ve never been this close in my life to my goal weight. Yippee!

I’ve also decided I’ll be doing the full marathon instead of the half for RNR New Orleans in January. I just need to pay the $20 upgrade fee and I’m in. I’m hesitant, nervous and excited but I think the way my life and health have been going, it’s time to take another chance.

What I mean by “how my life and health have been going” is just that things have become so uncertain with my job lately. We are waiting for the next round of layoffs which should come in the next week or 2. With this in mind, it just reminds me how life is uncertain and short and how I want to make the most of it. On the flip side, my health has been great. I’ve been eating better, like I said, the weight is coming off and this run streak and weight training have me in a positive mind set. I’m not sore at all from either thing and that makes me happy.

With my job being up in the air, hubby and I are making future plans that we are getting excited about. We both very much want to travel around the country and depending on what happens at my job, we might be able to do it next year. I’m very excited thinking about it!

 

Happy running, walking and smiling!

A Race Report and New Goals

Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve written.

To start out with, the Brooklyn Half went well. It was a whirlwind weekend of traveling to the race, a slight mess-up with where we were staying, not much sleep and just one long race, but it all turned out well in the end and I PR’d by 4 min!

The official count for the amount of people who raced was 25,587. Insane! I just couldn’t believe how many people were there! I’ve never been involved in a race that had so many people. On top of that, it was incredibly well-organized. There were plenty of water stations and port-o-potties too. It was an incredible experience in general.

My personal experience with the running part wasn’t quite what I hoped. Yes, I PR’d but I know I could’ve done better if I hadn’t had sore feet for awhile and my quads started tightening up like crazy around mile 6. I stopped and stretched a lot for the quads but I think the feet were the cause of my sneakers. I’ve run in Mizunos before and had been training in them but I just don’t think they had enough cushion and support for that type of distance. I’ve also had good luck with the Brooks Adrenalines so I went back to them. I’ve run in them a few times this week and I’m very happy with them so far.

Next up race-wise is July 6^th in Kennebunk, Maine. I’m really looking forward to it because it’s in one of my favorite places (southern Maine) and I have the excuse to go up there and eat lobster. It’s a win-win!

The next one after that is Rock ‘N Roll New Orleans on 1/25/15. I am currently registered for the half marathon but I think I’m going to upgrade to the full. After reading the story about the 91 yr-old woman who finished the RNR San Diego marathon this past weekend, I have no reason not to try. She is an amazing inspiration! Please look up the article. You won’t be disappointed.

I still have 30 lbs to lose so that is my first priority along with doing the run streak I’m doing for the month of June. I’m doing it to raise suicide awareness. It was suggested on the Run JunkEes Facebook group I’m part of to run a minimum of 1.37 mi/day during the month of June because the statistics say that every 13.7 min someone commits suicide in the US. I think this is a great reason to push myself out of my comfort zone.

So, I’ll be working on the weight loss, run streak (for June) and start weight training with core work. I’m going to continue that into September and then start training for the marathon. I’m very excited about all of it especially since it’s keeping my mind off work. There have been many layoffs at my job recently and there will be more in the next couple of weeks. I’m trying not to think a lot about it since there is nothing I can do. Running helps me deal with it all.

Happy running!