Some days you just have to listen to your body...and sleep

Today was supposed to be my 20 mile run..which I have been dreading all week long.  Well the 20 miler didn't happen this morning.  I pushed it off until tomorrow morning.  I didn't think it would go very well today because I just was so tired yesterday and didn't have the dinner that I wanted to have before my last long run before the marathon.  I ended up sleeping in late too so I think it was a good choice to run on Sunday.  So rather than hate life I will complete my long run tomorrow morning.

This morning I have been super productive. I took Riley on a long walk.  Thinking I will take him on another longer walk in a few before it gets really warm today.  I am now cleaning my house (well not really cleaning my house right now since I am on the computer)  With school starting and running I just haven't been keeping up with things around the house like I would like to. I have a mowed yard and the vacuum still gets run..but the place just needs a really good cleaning. :)  Looks like today is the day for it!  I would also like to do some yard work this evening but we will see if that happens.  What I really need is a maid..anyone want to apply??  I can't really pay you so the pay would be the knowledge that my house is clean and you did it :)

After this week I have three more weeks until my first full marathon!  Yikes!  I will say that I don't think I will be running another anytime soon.  It just takes too much time out of my schedule to train.  The night before a long run I have to make sure I am in bed early and have eaten something that will work on a long run. It is just a lot of running.  I much prefer a half marathon.  Training for a half marathon does not take over your life which I sort of like. :)

Yesterday I was looking at some shoes and found my Pure Cadence pretty cheap at Finishline.com.  70 dollars.  Its like Christmas in October!  I love getting a shoe deal!

My first DNS..

Boy am I behind in my posting.  I sit down and then I get distracted by the tv or trying to fit in some walking and running around the hood.  Don't worry I am still alive!

Two weeks ago I was very excited to run my new favorite local half marathon the Navy/Air Force Half in DC.  I ran the inaugural race last year and thought it was a really well ran and supported race and I knew I was going to run it again this year.

Prior to that Saturday I knew I was going to have to squeeze in 17 miles that weekend.  So all week I was debating on just tacking on the extra miles after the race (but what do I do with my bag that I checked?) or heading home and then tacking on the a extra miles there or I could do the half and then on Sunday run 17.  I had almost convinced myself by Friday that on Saturday if I felt it I would run the extra in DC and then be done with my mileage.

On Friday night I head out to meet up with an old work friend.  We had some Ihop and chatted for a few hours.  When we went to leave I heard the horrible sound of a flat tire.  You've got to be kidding me!  It is nearly 8 at night.  Ugh..So I call Theresa to let her know what just happened and at the same time this really nice kid/young man can walking over asking if I had a flat.

He heard the same thing I did.  He then asked if he can help me change it.  Oh my!  How lucky am I to have this nice guy willing to help.  So this kid proceeded to change my tire.  I will say that I have been really lucky.  I have had many flats and there is usually someone nice around to help.  I have never actually changed a tire, but I feel like after watching so many of my tires get changed I may be able to do it myself.  He proceeds to change his tire while I am holding my iphone up using the iphone app to help him get some light.  Thank you Iphone! I told him that I would be a funny story about the blonde girl who just held up her iphone then whole time and didn't actually do much with the changing of the tire.  He was very nice and didn't laugh.  So he puts the donut on and I am off.  Now my donut didn't look the best either.  But it was drive able.  I knew there was no place that I could get to that would help me with my tire on a Friday night so I headed the 30 minutes home.

I knew that my race plans were over.  There was no way I was going to continue to drive on 95 with a donut.  I guess I didn't have to worry about squeezing in my miles..I could run either on Sat. or Sunday and get my 17 miles in.

When I woke up the next morning my donut was flat.  Really!?  Another flat.  Luckily I had some fix a flat and I only needed the tire to work for a mile down the road.  Once I pulled to my mechanics place they took my car pretty quickly, plugged the tire (thank you for not needing new tires) and offered to do my inspection since it was due this month.  So I guess things did work out.

I knew that Saturday was the perfect morning to run, unfortunately by the time I left the car place I knew I wouldn't be able to squeeze in my long run.  I didn't want to run in the afternoon sun!  So looks like Sunday was the day.

Sunday I woke up and headed over to my new favorite long run place.  It was a perfect cool morning for a long run.  I will say I did not set any speed records but there was something magical about that run.  I just felt like I could go on forever.  I felt really good for a my long run.  There was some walking towards the end of my 17 but I am ok with that.  My legs felt pretty good.  I am so glad that I finally had a decent long run.  I was starting to think that there was no way I could run a full next month since all of my long runs have been feeling horrible.

So I guess what started out like a horrible weekend for running turned into a super weekend for running!  Sometimes you just never know what life is going to throw at you.

That weekend was also the 16th anniversary of my car accident.  And in honor of it I ran 17 miles on a leg that you would never think could run a mile.  Ahhh life is great!

I did it!!

Friday night I had some steak because I knew I was going to head out on my longest run yet on Saturday.  Saturday's run was going to be 15 miles.  My longest run to date!  I figured that if I get it out of the way on Saturday I won't be thinking about it the entire weekend. I am so glad I got out of bed and actually did it!  It was a beautiful day for a run, no humidity, cool temps in the morning.  I headed over to Waterway thinking I would start on that street and then cut over to the school and skip over to the neighborhood that Becky and I ran to train for Cherry Blossom.

Before I set out I got my camel bak ready and some shot blocks..I felt like I was packing for an overnight trip! I headed out and parked my car at the grocery store and started my run.  What a beautiful day.  Waterway is a perfect place to run.  Why have I never ran this road before?!  It is perfect.  Both sides of the road have trees and shade.  Perfect!  If one side is sunny the other side has shade.  And the road is pretty flat.  There are a few inclines but nothing too bad.  The neighborhood we were running for Cherry Blossom had mountains!  I even found the lake.

I ran some side roads off of Waterway since I had to get in 15 miles.  I then figured I could just run to the end of Waterway and back which should give me 9-10 miles and then I just have to run 2.5 to 3 miles out and then back and viola! 15 miles.  That is exactly what I did.  Next time I will run either more of the side streets or I will start a bit further away and run Waterway so I don't have to do the out and back again.  I'm never very good when I am that close to my car...I just want to be done and then I turned around and ran away from my car..ugh!  The last four miles were tough.  I just wanted to be done.  My knees were killing me. My feet were telling me to just be done!  I realized that I need to be better about getting in my midweek runs.  I have not been very good about getting those midweek runs in.  I think it is because I come home from work and just want to do nothing..I'm tired!

Well I did it!  I was super proud of myself.  To celebrate I went home and showered and took a nap!  Next weekend is Rock n Roll VA Beach.  I need to add 4 more miles to my run..hoping that I can fit it in.  :)

scary Scottie dog..and a long run

I got up and out the door by 6:40, a bit later than what I had hoped for, but I survived.  I headed out to the spot down the road.  It's very quiet and shady, perfect for a long run day.  There was even a bit of breeze out there this morning.

The people that I saw out and about this morning were very friendly and would say hi as I passed them.  I might be making some new friends this summer.  Maybe I will be invited for some block parties..even though I am not part of the block.   I think this spot is going to be great for my long runs.  

I ran for 1 1/2 hours this morning using my new camel back.  It worked out great!  It wasn't too heavy and there is no way I can train for a marathon using my handheld.  I also enjoyed all of the storage.  I was able to carry my phone in a front pocket.  My shotblocks were in a back pocket and my car keys were securely fastened to a clip on the inside compartment.  This could be my best running purchase in some time.

I ran in the neighborhood and was scared twice.  First was a rather scary statue of a white Scottie dog.  Yeah terrifying!  It was hidden beneath a mailbox.  I think I saw it snarl at me...Not sure how the mailman delivers mail with that fake dog sitting there.  Luckily nobody was around to see me jump when looking down and seeing the statue.

The next scare was as I was completing a circle in the neighborhood and a man came up behind me and I may or may not have screamed slightly.  I don't know what was making me so jumpy.  He laughed at me as he ran by me..did some push ups and then ran back towards me.  I didn't stick around to scream again on his return run.

At this point I was about 4 miles into my run and sweating like mad.  I was starting to worry that I would end up drowning in sweat and nobody would be around to call 911.  I headed out of the neighborhood and down a road to a new neighborhood.  I had no idea where I was running, but figured it could be fun exploring.  I ended up in another neighborhood with a bunch of new housing being built.  The people in this development were very nice too.  One person was nice enough to have their sprinklers out watering their lawn, and it might have also watered down a sweaty runner.  I also might have made sure that I headed back  near the sprinklers for my return run.  Cool water never felt so good.

At this point I was not loving life.  I was hot and sweaty and wishing my run was over.  

 Ah  never knew this existed in my town.  Hopefully this route will amuse me for awhile as I increase my mileage.  The nice thing is that it was pretty shady for most of the 1 1/2 hour run.  I also didn't have too many cars to deal with.  If I would have gotten up and out the door by 5:30 am I would have even less cars to worry about.  I am happy that I got out there and knocked out some miles.  Although I am wondering how in the world am I going to knock out a twenty mile run..that is going to eat up my entire morning!  I guess it will have to be one mile at a time. :)

When you run your long runs..do you run the same route or do you try and change it up?

weekend update

I have decided that Sunday will be my long run day (feel like I have been putting it off a bit this training run)  I went out and ran four Saturday.  It was a bit chilly.  I tried to head out as late as possible.  I  I almost stopped by my house to get a running headband under my hat to cover my ears.  The wind while running down the hill was freezing my ear off ( my other ear had an ear bud in it to keep it warm)  I just wasn't feeling the long run today.  So Sunday I will shoot for 8 miles.  Perfect way to try and counteract the Superbowl food!

I've knocked out two of my tutu's for my birthday 5k next Sunday.  I think they turned out pretty cute.  I just have to make sure that they fit the people I made them for.  I also can't figure out how to finish the elastic.  I have just tied it off..but the elastic is wide so it is forming a huge knot. Maybe using a safety pin?  I will do some googling and see what I can come up with it.

Last night I headed out with Glen to help our friend Jen celebrate her birthday.  Jen is a newish friend from runclub.  It was fun hanging out and meeting some new people.  It was snowing a bit last night so some people decided to stay home instead of heading to Jen's place. There were some yummy cupcakes too which I only had one (but wanted more than one!)