Running Thoughts

Well, I've tried planning my Freedom Half.  That hasn't worked.  So, today I thought, "Hey!  How about right now???"  So, I did it.  This afternoon, I shirked all responsibility and ran my Half Marathon on a whim.  I will post more about it with pictures, but tonight I'm tired and tomorrow is my 20th wedding anniversary.  :)  So, you'll haffta wait.  I will say this:  I had a great run.  The whole thing was really great for many reasons and my favorite miles were miles 9, 10, and 13.

But not my Freedom Run. I seem to be incarcerated by everyday life. That just means that the freedom will feel even sweeeter, right? Hubby asked me to choose a different day because of all that is going on around here...new business, etc. So, the new day may be AFTER the fourth....and I may back up a bit and re-do some training since now I'm feeling less confident and less prepared. Will let you know...

I feel like a sloth.  My taper sort of tapered out as my run got postponed.  I hope I can still do it... Tomorrow is the New Day.  And I'm re-ramping up for it... A reminder of what I want to attain: Besides my immediate goals for running the 13.1 miles that I posted a couple of posts back, the bigger overall goals are to gain a sense of accomplishment, to create a solitude in which to breathe and think and pray, to enjoy God's creation and take it all in, to dig deep and finish with determination. Gaining a sense of accomplishment:  Sometimes I feel like I need to re-group.  To create for myself a way to prove to myself that there are some things I can control and conquer.  That may sound goofy, but having a child with a disability (and I can imagine many other of life's curves) can feel out of control, and the only way that I can manage to let go and enjoy it all is to create a space where I play the cards...I choose to train or not to.  I plan and carry out my own strate...

My first plan for running Ruth's Freedom Run II was foiled!  So, my new plan is this:  Monday. Tomorrow will be really muddy from tonight's rain and it's supposed to rain some more tomorrow and into the weekend.  Sunday should clear up.  So, since I can choose, barring illness and other unpredictable things...I will run on Monday.  It's kind of hard to have a plan that you're excited about get way-layed.  So, I spent part of my way-layed time designing our t-shirts.  You get to choose your image...  I'm having trouble arranging them, so let's just number them from left to right, top to bottom.   You'll want a white tee because the background of the decal will be white.  The decal will have the name of the run "Freedom Run II," the year, your location, and will indicate that it was a Half Marathon.  Anything else you can think of???  I think I might put mine on a hoodie.           

There has been a slight alteration in plans... My youngest was sick all night and is still sick.  I didn't get to hit the start line this morning.  Tomorrow?  Who can say? Bummer on all counts except that since it's not an organized day and time, I can have a "raincheck!"  Nothing's lost.  Even if I have to wait until AFTER the 4th, I can still run it.  

It's On!  --superchick-my powersong inspired by Ruth Ready for tomorrow's 13.1 mile run!

I've been pondering my goals and what my strategy will be to meet those goals for my Half Marathon.  (What are we calling it, Ruth?  Last year, I just named it "Freedom Run" for your tee, but do you like something else better?)   Goals: To stay motivated To stay hydrated To stay focused To finish Strategy: Motivation...First of all, I have to admit that I've lacked excitement over the run because I don't feel super-prepared.  Last weekend changed that.  After watching the 50 milers come in and seeing that they all put everything they had into it, I found my enthusiasm for my own little run growing.  I say "little" in comparison to their 50 miles, but I'm fully aware that 13.1 is my fifty for now.  I plan to keep that excitement by wearing my "Go Mandy" Tee shirt.  I'm also creating a new run list for my half which will include a song by Superchick to remind me of Ruth who is in this with me.  I plan to set that as my "power song...

This past weekend was not only cool in temperature, but very cool indeed.  It was the weekend of the San Juan Solstice 50 mile run.  Above, you see the top 3 winners.  The guy on the left was first place, and this was his first ever ultrarun.  He described coming down into a meadow as he got near the end of the race and being surrounded by bull elk, all running along with him.    The race begins in our little town and meanders up and over very rough terrain, across creeks, up steep rocky slopes...for FIFTY miles.  The coolest part?  I had a friend running it.   I hung out at the park eavesdropping as the EMT's received radio reports about who had passed each checkpoint.  It was invigorating.  What a great way to mentally prepare for my 13 miles.  Some other gals and I decorated tee-shirts and went up to the next to last check point to cheer Mandy on.  While there, we watched many runners come through, change shoes and socks, eat some soup and carry on.  We got word that Mandy had d...

My long 8 mile run last weekend really had me worn out...stiff, tired, sore.  I've run this week, but just haven't been able to feel the rhythm, ya know what I mean?  Out of sinc...trying to re-group every so often and get in the groooove.  Anyway, I took two days off and today was much more groovy, so to speak.  Please enjoy some photos this fine friday that have nothing at all to do with my fitness journey...  One fine day in the mountains (above) Our two doggy-pals (below) Ricky is the Bichon and Banjo is the Golden..lazy, aren't they? My silly and sweet teenage daughter shows some attitude for the camera (below) Me...taken with my itty bitty camera on the 10k a couple of weeks ago (above) My two boys below, showing off some personality... Life is good.

how sweet would it be to meet up here...? wow

I didn't post about yesterday's 8 mile run because I was just too tired! hahaha I really was tired. It was a rainy kind of day, so I ran 4.5 miles outside, then 2 miles alternated between the treadmill and my circle driveway as rain subsided, then Mr. Sun came out, so I did too, for the last 1.5 miles. 8 miles total! Not enough food...sooooo tired....nauseated....tired....... So, I ate a big dinner and felt mucho better. Hungry today. This was the first long run of the taper before the Half...I don't mind tellin' ya...I don't feel ready this time. I was exhausted after my 10 miles and after this 8. hmmmm?

I've been running at about half throttle, as my doctor has said.  So I've tried to be patient with the fact that my pace has gotten slower instead of faster.  I've improved my form so that my knees feel better, but my pace has been around a 12 minute mile and over.  Sometimes, I'm running some monster-hills, so OK, but pretty much my pace has been pokey.  Now, I don't really care about my speed except that I want to get BETTER and not WORSE.  What had been 11 to 11'30" evolved into 12 to 12'20" rather than 10'30" or 10.  But today, I decided that I was going to keep my pace below 12.  I ran 3 miles and my pace was 11'30"something.  Yippeeeeee!  That little silly number made my day.  Any lurkers with a sub-6 mile just pretend with me and let me have my moment. I also checked out the ChaLean Extreme program from Beachbody.  It looks good for a change of pace and especially for winter days that are just toooo cold to get outside.  I ...

hahahaha!  I took the pic of my race tee with my macbook and it's backwards!  But you get the idea.... cool, huh?  greeen is my fav. Well, I had a bad attitude allll day.  So, I decided to clean my messy laundry room, re-organize it and clean it.  Then, I moved furniture and cleaned my living room/piano room.  Also, I planted the flowers that I'd bought that were waiting for me.  My attitude slowly got better, but I still just couldn't wrap my head around working out.   Hubby had softball this evening.  I went and watched for a little while and then went to my friend's beachbody presentation.  Beachbody puts out workout videos like P90x which I've thought about buying.  When I've looked at it, I've not been able to decide to go ahead and buy it because the workouts are loooooooooong and the other videos that they have look good too.  You can check them out here if you wanna, but if you want to buy, let me know so that Jen can get the credit!  Anyway, I'...

what do you suppose this chipmunk is thinking?  I doubt if his thoughts go anything like this, but maybe like me, you can relate... "I wonder if anyone is looking at me?  What if I look clumsy?  Will they think I look silly?  I'm too slow.  (or too anything)" I was hesitant to go for a run after the 10k.  It doesn't feel good to work hard at something and then not see much improvement, so I had thoughts like those above.  Not chipmunkish of me.   I got out there anyway and that's where I met up with some fine chipmunk friends.  They don't worry about whether they run "right" or not.  they don't care if they are faster than last week or what their form looks like.  I decided to be more chipmunkish.  Sure, you could argue that their brains are only the size of a pea and that we have higher level thinking skills...but I've never seen an overweight or unfit chipmunk, so who's got the higher level thinking when it comes to staying fit? Anyway,...

After raining solid for many days, we had a gorgeous day for the Lake San Cristobal 5k/10k race.  Above, you see a picture of the lake.  It's the most beautiful lake I've ever seen and I felt awed today as I ran alongside it for the 10K.   I knew that I'd be in the back of the pack, but I first realized that I would be dead last when the bus that shuttled us to the lake stopped to let the 5k runners off.  Only about a dozen of us were left for the 10K.  I looked around and decided to be happy that I would definitely be in last place.  Still, the start threw me as the excitement tried to propel me forward to keep pace with those who I already knew were faster than me.  I forced myself to keep my first goal in my head which was to NOT let myself keep someone else's pace.  So a quarter of a mile into it, I re-claimed my intention to run at my own pace, and I tried to relax which quickly became my most important goal.  I was miserable at first as my decision to be happy wit...

Tomorrow, I step out of my box.  I've never run in an organized race before.  You know, I've run organized "virtual" races with my Nike+, but never have I put myself out there with a group of runners and challenged myself this way.  Lots of little fears...what if I look like an idiot, need to go potty in the middle, get passed by an 80 year old or a 6 year old...things like that.  I'm in a 10K tomorrow morning.  I'll get back with ya...

Here I am, flat on the floor, but with a smile on my face. 10 mile run 

I lifted...upper body day.  I did NOT feel like it.  So, why did I do it? I want what comes from it I can I had promised myself I would