Sanity

All I have to remember is that running is my key to ongoing sanity. Today was a prime example, from the time I woke up till I got out of work things were glum. No reason, my head just wasn't in it today. I felt physically ill and mentally couldn't get out of my own way. Fighting the overwhelming spell my sweat pants have cast on me, I made it to the gym after work. Let's see how it goes. I fully expected to give up after only a mile or 2, I just felt too bad. But to my surprise that run of the mill nothing special 5 miles after work today completely changed my outlook. No longer am I feeling crummy and sounding like Eyeore. The run was slow and lacked any intensity that a coach would like to have seen but for my mental health, it was perfect. I'm now ready to celebrate the weekend, sweatpants are still folded at the bottom of the bed, but I have a few more hours of fun before I need to retreat to them. Sorry guys!

Miles trained today: 5

Days till the Amica Newoport Half: 2

Days till the Harvard Pilgrim Maine Coast Half: 24

Days till the Jingle 5k: 52

Pleasantly surprised

My club has been putting on an all women's 5k for the last 3 years and finally I ran out of excuses as to why I couldn't run it. So I shivered at the starting line wondering why I was there. 10 miles yesterday, 3 before the race today, it was going to be ugly. I sat there and watched women around me get ready to run, my music was too loud to hear what was being said but there was an energy that could be felt; a camaraderie that is lacking at other races I have run. The gun went off and we snaked down Elmgrove Ave. Different ages, shapes, speeds, levels of experience but I hate to be so corny but really a sense of oneness. I turned down the Blvd and waited for some men to pass by me and they never came. Towards the end I picked it up, wanting to be done and found myself having a really good time. I would focus on catching up to different women ahead of me an cheer them on as I found my next target. Towards the end we caught up with the walkers and unlike other races where this tends to get nasty, people were nice to each other. It could have been due to the race organization but I think it was more than that. Coming down the track to the finish, the crowd was louder than you find at most races. People were really excited for everyone that was finishing. I stood at the finished and cheered for a while and it was great to watch the smiles on the faces of the finishers. It was chilling to be a part of, again I apologize for the sappiness of this, as I write this I'm suffering from extreme dehydration and not myself. Until today I had not appreciated how nice an all women's running event can be. Sorry guys, but today I enjoyed the competition without your testosterone, too short shorts, spitting and snoting and fuzzy pits! It was just a very nice event and one I was glad I participated in. Going into this I encouraged my non running friends to join and hope that they will think about being a part of it next year.

Miles trained today: 6

Days till the Newport Half Marathon: 13

Days till the Harvard Pilgrim Maine Coast Half Marathon: 35

Days till the Downtown Jingle 5k: 63

Nevermind my partner, I'm ditching the garmin

Heading out for 10, I intentionally left the garmin at home. I just didn't need the pressure. Although the fact that I perceive pressure from an inanimate object is a bit of a problem. We don't have time to discuss those types of problems! Little did I know what a difference it would be. For the whole 10 miles I was relaxed. Never knowing my speed or distance was nice. KNowing the route, gave me a ball park figure, but beyond that I was clueless. I can't tell you if my knees started to bother me at mile 7, or if I pooped out come mile 9. It helped that it was a beautiful morning to be out there, and I had some good company. Today I enjoyed the conversation and found myself laughing later in the run. I know I ran 10 today and that's all that really matters. I will have other workouts to gauge my pace and measure splits.

Miles trained today: 10

Days till RMH Providence Women's Classic: 1

Days till Amica Half Marathon:15

Days till HP Maine Coast Half Marathon: 36

Ditching my partner?

This weekend was great and a rare event, Joe and I raced in separate events. He completed his first tri on Sat in Newport and by acting as a fan I saw him at every section and lived up the role as Biggest Fan. He did the same for me on Sun at the Ocean's Run Half Marathon, taking his bike from point to point (even cheered for strangers). I had no expectations going into today's event, my training has been in the toilet and I never run alone. From out of no where I pulled a pretty respectable time (2:08:25 unofficial) and shaved close to 8 minutes from my half marathon time from the spring. Now my plan had been run today, establish a base (had been hoping for a bit better than 2:20), run Amica and get a better time by 3-5 mins and then cap off the fall with the last half being in Nov with an even better time. Joe had planned to run Amica, but if we run together I can almost guarantee a slower time. This makes no sense, he's a faster runner than me but together I don't pull good times on the distance runs. Part of it is we choose to stay together so when one poops out we both poop out. The other is when I get tired I depend on him to pull me out of it, today I had no one but myself. My point is proven by my half marathon PR which was set in Providence 2 years ago and again Joe was there as Head Cheerleader not running it.

All of this aside if he didn't train with me I wouldn't have accomplished all that I have up to this point. There have also been races that he has sacrificed his time for my finish, Newport Marathon and Bermuda Half Marathon. Lets be honest, I'm not elite nor am I serious about how I train; this is more about fitness and the experience. So is my goal of improving over the next 2 races important enough to ask him to find other events? And if so will I really be able to keep improving to meet my fall racing goals?

Miles trained today: 13.1

Days till RMH Providence Women's Classic: 7

Days till Amica Half Marathon: 21

Days till HP Maine Coast Half Marathon: 42

Is $60 too much?

Hi, yeah I know I've been slacking. Story of my life at the current moment, but lets move on. I had decided I wanted to run the Ocean's Run Half Marathon on 9/26. My training, like blogging, has been questionable but I feel like I can run a half. In fact, I decided I would do one in Sept, Oct and Nov. Hey, if I'm not doing a full why not have a little fun with this. I was ready to register this weekend before I saw the cost. Ocean's Run is $60! Give me a break! Really? Why? I just can't bring myself to pay for it. I've paid a lot to run some races, more than $60. Why do I care about this one now? First of all the company is for-profit with very little going to charity. This group does put on good events, but do I really want to contribute to her vacation pot? Second, the t-shirt is cotton. What the hell am I going to do with another cotton t-shirt? If it was at least a running shirt I could see the $60. Third, I know there will be NADA in the goodie bag. Remember the bags from CVS 5k a few years ago, full of a years worth of samples? That kind of goodie bag would be worth the $60. Then they almost got me with the "free" beer at the end, lets call it what it is..a $60 beer. I'm running out of options. There is no other half marathon in New England that Sunday. I thought about Salem on Sat but then remembered I'll be in full on cheerleader mode at the Amica Tri for Joe. I love the area the half is going to be in, it's at our beach. It's going to be beautiful and blissfully flat. The weather is finally on my side. I really want to run it, again this group is expensive but they do host good events. The jury is still out but I have until 9/24 till the price jumps to $70!

Miles trained today: 5

Track Manners

Can we talk about track workouts for a minute? I'm no expert but need to vent for a moment.

1. It's not a race. I don't care that you can blow by me on lap one and then I breeze by you on lap 3 while you are sucking wind. The whole point of having a goal pace is so that you run that pace consistently for the workout. We all run different paces and if you are having a fast week that is excellent. A slow week and you have my sympathies, but I am running my own pace. Please stop trying to race, let me know if you want to schedule a 100 yard dash and I'm game, looser buys the beer.

2. Stay in lane 1. All other lanes are a waste of energy and slow people down when they need to pass you. If you are running with other people, note running with not racing, then all run in lane one and stagger yourselves. There is really no reason for you to be in lane 2 or 3. Also, on this same note, if you are being passed move to the inside of lane 1 if running solo. This is a non contact sport and you can't elbow me out of the way. Lets face it, most of us are going to get passed, get over it and just let it happen.

3. Get out of lane 1 RIGHT AWAY when you are done with your laps. Please, it is terribly annoying when I get tripped up because you have stopped suddenly and are trying to stretch out a hamstring. There is a whole field to your left, use it.

4. This is a risky one, but bothers me, workout hard enough that you can't have a full on conversation. Unless this is the dreaded tempo run on the track workout, you should be running hard enough that you can't talk more than a few words. I don't need to hear about your vacation to Austin and what your kids are wearing for the first day of school.

5. No spitting, and you know who you are! God it's gross, just don't do it or if you insist please don't spit where we all keep our keys and water bottles.

I could keep going but I'll stop now.

Miles trained today: 5

Hi, Remember me?

Yep, it's been a while. Sorry! So today was my first "long run" on the roads in a month. Yep, a month. Sorry, again! Long run? Yeah, I'm talking 8 miles. Do I even say sorry again? Here I am, ready to run again. After a month of distractions, disappointments and tears I'm here. Running didn't fit, but it fits now. Where do I go from here? I don't know to be honest. I'm thinking a half marathon in Sept/Oct. What I've learned is there are no guarantees with running, like the rest of life. If you had told me that I would walk away from Chicago and be ok with it, I would have called you a liar. But here I am. So will I do a half? Who knows? I call tell you that today I ran a good 8. I would like to get my mileage back up slowly. I would like to run a half but I am not going to allow it to worry me. What I can tell you is that right now I'm laughing on my runs, laughing hard and I want that to continue.

Miles trained today: 8