It was never my intention to go this long between posts. Life has gotten the best of me lately. Between work, home, and getting my workouts in I barely have time to look around and see what's up.
Moving on..
I did the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving with my sisters' and Phil. It was great. I did exactly what I set out to do: run my own race. We started off and I was able to stay with speed demon my sister Hannah for the first half. Once we rounded the corner (it was an out and back race) she was able to go around some folks that created a wall once she was on the other side. So, I continued to run at the current pace. I was feeling good. No pain, no issues with my breathing. Around the 2.5 mile mark I started to feel fatigued. Phil caught up with me. He kept me going. He gave me pace updates (he had an ear bud in for his phone so he could hear feedback), he kept me moving. We ran together to the end. When I saw the time on the clock when I finished I was nearly in shock. It was just under 30 minutes. I was so happy and so ecstatic when I saw that. Hannah ran it faster, Sarah ran it slower. I didn't care. I am so proud of my time! It was really awesome to finish with Phil.
I've decided to run the It's a Wonderful Run 5k in Seneca Falls this Saturday. This one should be really festive. You start running at dusk and the route is lit up with the Christmas lights from the homes and businesses on the route. Seneca Falls is the inspiration for Bedford Falls from It's a Wonderful Life. They do a festival the whole weekend. Looks like it will be a great time. Sarah is running it with me, she rocks with her running as well. She is consistently getting faster, I love it!
My eating is, well, it's not great. It's not horrible. I'm enjoying life at the moment and that includes my indoor s'mores and cheese with my tacos. At the same time I haven't gained a significant amount of weight. If anything I have stayed steady. Which means all my workouts have been a way of maintaining the weight loss. Which is great and all but I would love to drop the last 5 or so pounds that I want to lose. Perhaps after the holiday season is over I can get back on a sensible, portion controlled, diet.
My training. It's been going, well if you had asked me two days ago I would have bemoaned how horrible it's going. How I don't feel like I'm getting any better, I'm not fast enough, so many people are faster or prepare better than me. However, it hit me yesterday. I actually AM improving. Typically on my training runs I am hitting a pace of 9:30/min miles. That's a full minute and half faster from the summer and a full half minute faster than my previous 'fast pace'. My swimming? Couldn't be better. I can knock off 1000 yards in 20 minutes. I could keep going if I wanted, because I don't feel winded or tired. The fact that I'm not injured, not out of shape, improving, means that I'm doing something RIGHT. I'll be honest, I love this feeling. This feeling that I'm working towards my goal paces and getting somewhere.
I am still planning on a half marathon in January. It will probably be the Nike+ Women's virtual half, but I just caught wind of the Manhattan Half Marathon. I need to talk to Phil but I'm considering that one instead of the virtual half, it goes through Central Park and surrounding areas. Sounds nice. We'll see. After the half I may concentrate on my swimming. My swimming goal is the 2.5 mile Peaks to Portland. To make that happen I need to start swimming some distance. 2.5 miles is roughly 4400 yards. I'm pretty sure I could do that, I say that with zero confidence. I think my long term goal for race season is an Olympic distance triathlon along with my two sprints. There's time to sort out which Olympic I do, but I will do one.
Christmas is approaching. I bought Phil's gift and I cannot wait until it comes and he opens it. The only thing on my list is a, admittedly unromantic, Garmin 910XT. Comes out in January.
Saturday was the Run for Hospice in Greece, NY. The race itself was pretty much hell for me. However, Phil and my sisters nailed it. They all did great at their own paces and I was really happy to be out there running with them. I won't go into a detailed race report because, frankly, my run sucked. It threw me into a tail spin of self doubt and a 100% pure pity party. After talking with Phil, I rallied and now have new plans in place to get me where I want to be with regards to my fitness level. Also, as my wonderful friend Karen pointed out: You had a horrible race because you ran everyone else's race but your own!
Truer words have never been spoken.
Kirsten did her 1/2 mile kids fun run. She smiled the entire run, excited to be out there running her race. She was the youngest kid who did the 1/2 mile (there was a 1/4 mile where most of the kids her age ran). She came in last but got a high five from one of the volunteers and she got to break the tape. She did fantastic. SHE ran her own race. I should take a lesson or two from her.
I haven't done anything since Saturday. Sunday is a rest day for me, so nothing was planned that day anyway. Although, I did wheelbarrow one Lindsey with 8 pumpkins at the pumpkin patch so I should count that. Monday I was scheduled to swim. I dragged myself out of bed (after getting home late from my mom's), got my suit on and went to the pool. Only to find 6 others waiting to get in, the lifeguard was not there yet.
This is where it gets frustrating. I swim at the local HS pool. The lifeguard is all of 17 years old. She's also new. MY workout depends on her showing up on time. I waited 15 minutes before calling it a bust. I wasn't happy because this means no swim until Friday (remember, new schedule with Lindsey going to daycare). It also meant I had to do something after work.
I wanted to do something after work. However, I had work to do after work. Once dinner was done, Lindsey had a bath, kids were in bed, work kept me busy until 11:30pm. I didn't hit the pillow until almost midnight. My alarm went off at 4:40am and my body said, "HELL NO". Tonight, I run.
These set backs, these life set backs are why I started a blog. I'm a real person, with real responsibilities trying to fit it all in. I need to schedule and adjust that schedule to carve out the time needed to do the things I want, not just what I need. It's not always easy, but worth all the effort.
*Also for some real motivation check out the Kona Ironman race reports by Ange and Michelle. Links are to the left. They totally inspire me to keep going.
I'm just going to let this week go. Life got in the way of training this week. It happens, I just can't let it happen over and over.
Next week Lindsey starts daycare Tuesday-Thursday. My plan for the weeks are as follows:
Sunday- Off
Monday- Swim
Tuesday- Run
Wednesday- Off
Thursday- Bike (weather permitting) or Run
Friday- Swim
Saturday- Brick or long run (bike)
Once I set this schedule it will be easy to stick to as my family will know my expectations. This way should one of the girls wake up early (like Lindsey did again this morning, difference was she wouldn't go back to sleep), Phil knows what time I'm trying to get out of the house. A bike or run I can leave at 5:15 and still get in a decent work out. For a swim I have to be out of the house by 5:15 to get to the pool by 5:30. If I don't get to the pool at 5:30 my work out is cut significantly short.
Scheduling is the only way I know to keep the training motivation together during these weeks. If I get a plan, I will do my best to stick to it.
Very excited about the race tomorrow, should be a ton of fun.
*In some admin news for this little blog, I have changed the settings so that anybody can comment. You don't need a Gmail account or anything. Just choose the anonymous option and leave your name in the comment, or not. Would love to see if anyone is really reading. So, don't be shy! Thanks!
