Month: July 2013

I owe you, little blog. I owe you a race report, and a long run sunday report. But not tonight. Because I really need to go to bed. But soon, I promise. Probably tomorrow while I’m catching up on domestic stuff.

15 miles on the schedule for today. My knee had been feeling funny all week. It didn’t hurt, per se, but I tweaked it sometime early in the week, so I rested it hoping for the best today. And my knee actually felt good while I was running. Better running than walking, actually. But unfortunately there was a lot of walking. *sigh*

To put it mildly…oh wait, why bother, I already posted about happy no baby day. My period messes with my world the first couple of days. I hurt, my uterus feels like it’s trying to claw its way out of my body, my back hurts, and it completely saps me of energy. So today’s run was more of a walk (as you’ll see from my splits). But you know what? I did the damn 15 miles, frustrating as it was. I could’ve turned back sooner, cut it short, blah blah blah, but I didn’t. So even though I didn’t really RUN them, I did finish them, and I think that counts for something. Because ultimately I don’t expect to run every step of my first marathon. I know I’ll walk some. But I don’t give up. The distance gets done. So there’s that.

And I took a few more pictures. Did the same route as last week plus some, ending up in Station Square. A couple shots of the city skyline from a different place, further along the path.

Damn I love this city! The rush I get running through it. I love it a little more each time. I can’t wait to run the Pittsburgh Marathon next year. 🙂

And now, goddess help me, splits:

1. 12:54
2. 13:02
3. 12:23
4. 12:37
5. 12:37
6. 11:31
7. 15:13
8. 13:46
9. 14:09
10. 16:00
11. 16:58
12. 12:35
13. 14:58
14. 14:10
15. 12:50

Yuck. You can obviously see where I fell apart, though I even started off slower than last week because, again, uterus, with claws. Ugh.

Next up is another half marathon. I was supposed to do 16 next weekend, but one of my friends wanted company for a race she’s running, so now I’m doing it too. So hey, I’ll take a medal over mileage. Not much wiggle room in my schedule, but I can make a few adjustments and it will all be fine.

Happy No-Baby Day!
Not that I’m surprised by my period ever. I’m expecting it. I know around when it should arrive, but I don’t have it down to the second. But I’m always surprised by the PMS. You would think that when the scale isn’t cooperating despite me doing all the right things, when I wake up hungry enough to eat my own damn arm off, combined with the fact I KNOW I should be getting my period I’d be a little less surprised. SMH. Will I ever learn?

A year ago today, I came home from work and my life changed drastically and unexpectedly. My boyfriend of almost a decade ended our relationship.

And I was finally free. I knew I was unhappy, but I couldn’t figure out (or at least I couldn’t admit) why. And he–us–was the reason.

My life has changed in so many wonderful ways since that night. I’m truly the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been. For the first time in my life I’ve been able to live on my own terms. I eat what I want, and when, and how. I run and workout when and how I want. I have no one else to consider when I make decisions. No one to answer to (besides the cat). It’s truly MY life. Parts of me I thought were dead have reawakened. I’ve done things that I never imagined. I have plans and goals and dreams again. I feel alive.

I’ve moved to a new city. Found a job, a place to live. Lost 40 pounds. Made some new friends. Run hundreds of miles. Made some mistakes. Fixed them. Tried again. Gone on a few dates. Things aren’t perfect, but they’re really, really good. Better than I ever imagined.

Today was my first long run of marathon training. I admittedly have taken it easy since my half marathon at the start of June. I’ve been running consistently, but nothing long, and thus I’ve been kind of miserable. Trying to force myself to like the short stuff just isn’t working for me. 10k is fine, that’s about the shortest run that I can really enjoy (unless I’m running for time with Erik and we pull out 4-5 miles), but 5k just sucks. I’m not good at speed, and while I know that I can maintain that kind of speed for awhile because I’ve done it, mentally I just can’t get my mind right. So I’ve really REALLY been looking forward to today, and it proved to me once again that distance is what I love and what I’m meant for.

I had decided to run through town. Wasn’t sure of my exact route yet, I was just going to see what happened and how far I could go, planning on 7 out and back to get my scheduled 14. Time goal was less than 3 hours, as I know I could do 15 in that time so it shouldn’t take me quite that long. I went to work, parked, geared up and started out around 7 AM so I could beat the heat. And the weather was awesome, I’m definitely going to try to get my solo long runs out of the way early like this (when I run with my buddy I’ll have to accommodate his schedule, obviously).

I fell into my groove pretty easily. Music was working with me, weather was gorgeous, I just felt good. I was happy, smiling (something missing from Thursday’s 5k), and soon I was lost in thought. Decided to run to the Southside and see how far I would get, and I got pretty far. All the way to the Riverfront path, which I took for miles 6-8 (roughly). And I couldn’t help myself. Overwhelmed by how much I love running distance, and how much I love the city of Pittsburgh (as I came upon the skyline and said out loud “Damn I LOVE this city!”), I actually stopped to take a few pictures.

I never stop to take pictures while I’m running. And that first one wasn’t the view that made me profess my love for the city, but I just hit the point where it was worth stopping for a few seconds. Even if these pics don’t do the breathtaking view of the city proper justice (and they don’t) it was worth it to remind me how much I love running here.

One of the things that struck me is that part of my love of Pittsburgh running is how different it is from running in Vermont. I loved running in Vermont, I loved that I lived in the middle of town and just two miles in either direction I would encounter farm life. I loved it. I have a similar experience here, minus the farm animals. On my way to my starting point I encountered a wild turkey–with a baby wild turkey! It was so sweet! And then running along the riverfront, as I’m struck by the gorgeous all city skyline I see bunnies, ducks, and multiple groundhogs. Small things I know, but they make me really happy.

Admittedly I was slower on the way back having (1) not done any significant distance for the past month I was already a little past my threshold and (2) my run into the Southside is about 1.5 miles downhill…so I was fighting uphill on fatigued legs. Walked a little more than I’m proud of or happy with, but still it all felt so good. Even with the walking and photo stops, average pace was still under 12, so I’m happy with that.

Splits

1. 11:04
2. 10:51
3. 11:13
4. 11:48
5. 10:46
6. 11:26
7. 11:28
8. 11:09
9. 13:48
10. 13:52
11. 10:32
12. 12:11
13. 11:47
14. 12:02

Average pace 11:50

Planning on 15 next Saturday. Can’t wait. 🙂

I’ve been both looking forward to and dreading this race. As I’ve mentioned previously, 5k messes with my head. There’s just something about it that gets me. The ‘wall’ that most people hit near the end of a marathon I hit around the first mile of a 5k. There is no logical or physical reason for this. None. As my running buddy points out–I can solidly do 8+ miles without stopping, and at a decent clip, he’s seen me do it. I should be able to do 5k without walking. But I can’t.

Still, I tried to stay positive. Knowing I was going to be running (at least theoretically) with him and his buddy was going to push me. We were gunning for sub-30. I was all in. And for the first half mile or so I kept up with him, solidly, I was pushing myself, it was good. Then all of a sudden BAM! Wall. I kept running, but I could just see him getting farther and farther away from me until I lost him completely. So I kept going. Walking a couple of times for no good reason other than my brain told me to stop running. And I swear on these runs that happens independently of conscious thought because as soon as I realize I’m walking and I realize I’m FINE and don’t need to walk I start running again.

Despite the fact I struggled I did manage to pull out a PR. My previous 5k PR was last year at the Great Race 5k, when I pulled out a 38:14. The timing for today’s race is a little wonky–everyone starts at gun time, so I’m sure I was probably a little faster, but my official time was 35:30. *Almost* 3 minutes faster on a less forgiving course (Great Race is as flat and downhill as you can get in the ‘burgh, this course is not so much).

I’m happy with the PR, though still frustrated. High point of the race was seeing my friend from work out with signs for me and my buddy. That was cool. All I can do at this point is focus on the big picture–training for my marathon. I have a few more 5k’s coming up, and I’m going to try hard to remember that distance is my thing. 5k’s in my world are meant to be fun runs with my friends. They aren’t something I particularly enjoy. So I’ll keep doing them in moderation, and striving for my sub-30, but I need to relax and not beat myself up over them.

JUNE GOALS

• If not lose, maintain my weight. FAIL. Miserable FAIL. Totally gained weight. It was mostly a no-weigh month, too. Clearly I’m not ready for that.
  
• Finish getting car taken care of. Half pass. I got one big thing taken care of that ended up costing more than I’d planned. Thus I cancelled my trip. Still need to get two smaller issues resolved.
• Keep up the Cross Training. FAIL. I don’t think I would’ve gained if I’d been better about the XT, but it is what it is.

So June was kind of a big ole FAIL. But not July. July is already off to a (star-spangled) banner start.

JULY GOALS

• Lose 6 pounds. I’m up 4 from my low, 6 will give me a new low. If I can manage to lose more, great, but I feel like 6 is a reasonable goal for the month.
• Training Beast Mode. This is off to a banging start. I’ve been up by 5 AM to get my XT done before work. So far I have followed the training calendar to the effing letter. The plan is all laid out, the goal is to Get. It. Done.
  
• Finances. I’m getting a promotion at work, which comes with a decent raise, I can still work OT as needed, and I’ll have the potential for bonuses. While I definitely have some expenses coming up, and some running related purchases I need to make (new shoes & fuel belt), this should go a long way in helping me get my financial house in order.
  
• Dates. I’ve been on a couple. I like the two guys I’m talking to. Nothing serious. I’d like to go on a few more dates. At least two. If they are with the same guys all the better, but new ones are fine.
  

These are some pretty big goals, so I’m good with there only being a few. Let’s do this.