Marine Corps Marathon 2012

That shit is happening, dammit!

MCM

I am sitting here watching the coverage of the Marine Corps Marathon. Wishing I was among their number. My, my aren't my goals getting lofty! Especially for someone who's longest run so far has been 5 miles. But, damn. That would be cool as hell. Good luck, runners!

It's long run Sunday, and I have a five miler today. Five feels so long, it seems insane that I'd be contemplating 26.2. Let's start with the 10K in November and a half marathon in spring. If I can finish those upright and smiling, well... then we'll talk.

Rest Day

Not much happening today as my training schedule has this as a rest day. Why do I feel guilty taking a day off? I've had a nasty headache since yesterday afternoon and I'm wondering if it's from too much exercise. I can definitely say it's not dehydration, but other than that, I have no idea.

Saturday is scheduled as a cross training day, I'll probably just go for a long walk with the dog. Sunday is long run day. I think training calls for 4.5 miles. Possibly 5. Either way, it should be interesting.

Out and Back.

For my 3 mile runs (2-3x a week) I have two choices. Turn left at my front door and run a mile and a half down the road ans back or turn right and do the same. Left is hillier and a more interesting run. Right seems to have less traffic and is a bit safer. Both have me bored to death. My community's main road is a 7.2 mile circle around a lake, and I'm really looking forward to the day when I can just run the whole thing. Today my husband happened to be home so I asked him to drop me off at a spot about 3.3 miles from my front door and I ran home. Unfortunately (fortunately??) that put a big butt-kicker hill at the beginning of my run that I'd never been up before. It sucked and was exhilarating at the same time. For some reason when I run hills I visualize roller coaster tracks pulling me up. You know how they click, click, click as you go up? I see/hear that in my mind's eye. It helps a lot. Now I need to come up with a mantra to say during those times when I feel I can't go on...

Running In The Dark

Because of day plans, I was up before the sun logging my 3 miles. It is both exhilarating and frightening to run on the road in pitch black (my community has neither street lights nor bike paths). Not only am I frightened of cars not seeing me, I also have the normal fear of a woman alone in the dark. I outfit myself with an array of various reflective materials and blinking strobe lights. I've also tried using a headlamp, and only end up looking like a deranged miner/Christmas tree. This morning I tried a fantastic invention called Knuckle Lights. They're these lightweight "flashlights" that slide over your fingers and rest on the front of your knuckles and light your way. I run with my hands in a loose fist, so these really were perfect for me. Not to mention they remind me of brass knuckles, so along with a little "Eye Of The Tiger" action, I got to embrace my inner Rocky. Yo, Adrian!

A bit discouraged.

I was on my daughter's Cross Country site looking for something when I ran across a "humor" button. I clicked it of course... who doesn't like "humor". It was a list of The 27 Types Of Runners You See At A 5K. And while some of them were humorous, one of them was me. The housewife running 10 minute miles, the person proud of coming in 18th in their age division. It got me to thinking. Am I a joke at these races? I have a husband who runs fast enough to usually be in the top 5 for his age division and in the top 15 overall. I'm generally in the back quarter of the pack. It's made me re-think signing up for this 10K once again. That race will not have many if any beginner racers, and I'll finish waaay in the back, if not last in my age division. I'll be lucky to finish in 1:15. So while I'd like to challenge myself to a harder race, that stupid page of "humor" has eroded my confidence to practically nothing.

35 minute 5K

Hell no! I ran that bitch in 34:01, and felt pretty strong the whole way. There was a pretty intense hill at about mile 2.5 that I allowed myself to walk up. Which is unfortunate because I probably would've ended up running in the 33's. But the important thing is that I finished smiling...

Still haven't registered for that 10K yet. I'm intimidated...

An Easy 2

I'm scaling back in anticipation of Saturday's race. Today's practice run was a 2 miler with a comfortable pace. I live 2 miles from my daughter's pre-school so I left my truck parked there and caught a ride home with a friend. Surprisingly, my 2 mile was finished pretty easily in 20 minutes. Not bad for a girl who hated running for the last 20 years.

I still have to walk occasionally, though those are getting fewer and farther between. I allow myself those times, and pick up the run as soon as I'm able. However, four years of trying to keep up with a platoon of male Marines left me feeling that walks are failures. It also left me with the fatalistic attitude that I'll never be able to complete a run without walking. It's a mental stumbling block that I'll need to work on.

There must be some sort of literature out there on the mental aspects of running. Anyone? Ideas?

Just a bit of background.

I'm a thirty-*ahem* something-year-old Mom of three. My last pregnancy left me 40 pounds overweight and too lazy to do anything about it. A year and a half passed where I literally didn't recognize my own body. As in "Who the hell does this ASS belong to? Because surely it isn't mine!!".

Last spring I got fed up. I could not stand the thought of another summer sweltering in jeans because I was too ashamed to wear shorts. Of staying in the boat instead of water skiing because I didn't have the endurance to do it, and I for sure wasn't taking my cover-up off.

So I tried Nutrisystem for three months, and it helped. To a point. Then someone mentioned the C25K program, and though I've hated running since my Marine Corps days, I figured what the hell and started running in my basement on the treadmill. I lost 20 in nine weeks just doing that. I also learned while I didn't like the feeling of running, I sure as hell liked the way I felt after I finished.

In late summer I signed up for my first 5K. It was great and awful at the same time. Great because I finished, awful because I finished in a slow-as-hell 41 minutes. I knew I needed to get off the treadmill and hit the road. Which I did, and finished my second 5K in 36 minutes.

Which brings us to today. My competitive juices are flowing. I'm running a 5K tomorrow and am hoping to get under 35 minutes. I'm considering a 10K in November and have begun to consider the idea of a spring half marathon. My friends are sick of hearing about running. I'm obsessed with the idea of getting faster and running farther. I feel strong again. I feel like me again.