Never say never

So around mile 11 - 13 on Sunday I swore up and down, "Never again. Never another 13 - this isn't necessary." My legs were on fire, my back was aching, what was I doing?

Though as it was happening I was proud of what I was doing, the pain was still throbbing thru. It was a "nice run." I made it across the finish line - But no more marathons...

FINISH!

Yeah. Right.

I stuck to that idea until I wrote the "eh" blog of the other day. Where, already the wheels were churning on how to pick up my pace.

And then I got the Jersey Shore marathon email... And I signed up!

So, here we go again... the journey continues.

XO
Jen

PS: I ran / power walked two miles again to keep moving and to break in the new sneaks...

VICTORY... I ran 13 miles but why do I feel so eh?

jen & frannie at starting line

First off, yay me! I did it! And yay Frannie! She did it too!!  Congrats and kudos to her for her first 1/2 marathon - she made it look easy and ran like a champ.

So, it's no longer a fluke that I did it once because lo and behold, I did it again! Crossed that finish line and ran 13 miles. I even got a little choked up when I turned the corner and saw that big beautiful thresh hold waiting for my screaming legs to cross. And boy were they screaming.

I started off pretty strong. In fact, stronger than I had anticipated. I figured I'd run 3-4 miles and then walk a minute, but 3-4 miles came and went and I was still running. So then, I was going to run to 5 and walk, then 6, then 7-8 passed and we were still pretty much running (aside for a slow up for a second for a sip of water thru a station or two.) I felt like I was keeping a slowish but manageable pace to endure the run. It literally isn't a sprint - and all that jazz.

At 6 miles I took a picture of the time for my progress:

Hey, not too shabby - this is a 13 minute mile and about a 4.6 mile pace. I was pleased. I even know that it was probably slightly better because it took Frannie and I a couple of minutes to actually cross the start line. Though I know it's still slower than the average bear, it was still significantly better than the Jersey Shore marathon and I felt like it was a comfortable rate to sustain me through the whole thing. OK. I was starting to believe that maybe I had a shot to run the whole thing.

Well around mile 10ish, my legs wanted to quit. In fact I'm pretty sure they fired my whole body or tried to walk out on me but they had no choice but to bring me on home. OMG, ouch, ouch, ouch. It hurt to run, it hurt to walk, it hurt to breathe. I think it even hurt to listen to music.  And those last 3 miles it was all I could do to get there. And I did, I got there - there was no turning back... or taxi's available.  And I'm happy about that...

Allow me to introduce you to my insanity....

But, my time was pitiful. 3:03.  Ugh. People can walk faster than that. It's a 14 minute mile. I think out of 2,000 people only 40 people finished after me. If that. Yuck. I know I should be proud that i did it but part of me feels like such a failure that I couldn't finish faster. Part of me despairs, how could more than a thousand people be better than me? What am I doing wrong? Why don't I train harder? Get stronger, go faster? The insecurities, the perfectionist in me, HATES being one of the slowest of the bunch - yet, I ran a freakin' marathon - ya know? Why can't that be enough? I'm not one to keep up with the Jones's when it comes to cars, homes or other possessions so what's the deal here? Why does this bother me so much?

I don't know. And yes, I can appreciate the accomplishment - I truly can. I knocked a full 20 minutes off my time from the first one I did - (a 15:14 mile... back in May) And yes, I can tell myself every which way to Tuesday that 3 years ago I was 75 pounds heavier and couldn't walk at 2.8 on a flat treadmill without getting winded - I can remind myself that a year ago at this time it wouldn't have crossed my mind to even try to WALK a 5K - never mind that I'd be running not one but two 1/2 marathons... That I only started ever running in my life nine months ago - but still. I want more, I guess.

So though, my legs are still on strike and my feet still ache - I'm pretty sure that I'll be enduring another 13 miles of joy and hell in my future because I simply cannot allow my last race be a 14 minute mile... and I just blew $75 on those new sneakers that I didn't wear yesterday because Angela, voice of reason, reminded me just how incredibly horrible of a disaster new sneaks on 13 mile day could be. (Thank you for those words of wisdom from the bottom of my heart and soles of my feet.)

I better give my legs a raise in pay because I'm gonna need them to go the distance next time - and so the journey continues.

XO
Jen

PS: The Jersey Shore half spoiled me -- the signs by the locals, the cheering crowd, the constant water and gatorade, the medal - not so much at this one.

PSSS: Sorry for this very loooooong blog, you know I can be chatty sometimes.

Less Than 24 hours to run 13 miles - new kicks

Well, here we go again.

Less than 24 hours from the big day.  Funny how different it feels from the first time. But none the less, I'm excited, nervous, and looking forward to tomorrow.

At race time, I imagine it'll be pretty perfect running whether as the projected high for the day will be 70 - I'm estimating around 60 degrees for a nice brisk start.

I "treated" myself to new sneakers - though truly, after logging as many miles as I did on the other ones, I know they are more like overdue necessities.

While I was tempted by the pretty colors of the Asiacs and the funky cool Nike's I ultimately settled on another pair of Saucony's - they not only carry my size (an unfortunate 10.5 women's) (You try to find 10.5 in running sneakers, almost impossible.) but they have the support my over-pronating feet really need. So though they look pretty much identical to the ones I already own - it is what it is.

I was in for a sweet deal - the Saucony Progrid Hurricane's I've been eyeing were on sale from $139.99 to $99.00 at Sports Authority PLUS I had this great coupon for The Sports Authority: SAVE $25 off $100 purchase to boot. I added a pack of "thirst quenching" gum to my purchase to bring me over $100.00 and used my coupon.  Got sneakers for around $75.00.  Awesome.

Feel free to print the coupon in the link - it's good until January 2011!!  :)

So wish me luck. I might not be quite as trained but I will do whatever it takes to cross the finish line. Tomorrow at this time, I'll be reporting back about my second VICTORY.

XO
Jen

Running songs: playlist updated

Music... I need it for running and have taken a lot of time to experiment with different genre's and beats.

Spark People just provided a pretty cool list of workout songs and it inspired me to take a look at updating my own music.

Here are some of my latest favorites - some have remained in rotation since day 1 of the journey - some are new, some are old. As always - love your suggestions!

Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas 
Lay All your love on me - Abba 
Promises in the Dark - Pat Benatar 
Lose Yourself - Eminem 
I'm Not Afraid - Eminem 
Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield 
Alive & Kicking - Simple Minds 
Relight my Fire (old disco song) 
Beautiful Day - U2 
Pretty Vegas - INXS 
Paradise City - Guns n Roses 
It Goes Around the World - ATC 
I'm Every Woman - Chaka Kahn 
I Get Knocked Down - Chumbawumba 
Telephone - Lady Gaga 
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
Your Love is My Drug - Ke$ha
Heat of The Moment - Asia
Single Ladies - Beyonce
Anthem Part 2 - Blink 182
Ray of Light - Madonna
Please Don't Stop The Music - Rhiana
Temperature - Sean Paul
Glamorous Life - Sheila E.
Seven Nation Army - White Stripes
Rat In a Cage - Smashing Pumpkins
Low - Flo-Rida featuring T-Pain)
Get Back - Ludacris


An eclectic collection if I do say so myself... 


Happy running/working out!


Jen

8 Miles and only 6 days until the next half. Oh my.

INSPIRATION - I can do it again

Well, today I ran 8 miles. I feel pretty good considering that I feel half-assed trained. Calf is a little sore, hips feel a slight bit stiff but I actually feel better than I did when I originally ran 8 miles in my first round of training for the first marathon. The last time I hit 8 miles in training, I had to ice and elevate for an hour, nap for 2 hours and it pretty much spent me for the day. Today, I actually came home and went about my business.

So, though I reached 8 miles, I am a little nervous about this shing ding on Sunday. I wish I had started taking training a little more seriously sooner. While I'm happy about the 8, I definitely was starting to feel it in my legs and I'm not sure how I'll add another 5 to it.

Oh well. I'll do my best. I often look at my medal and my hat from the NJ shore marathon for inspiration and remember that half the battle is won with my mind. The other half will have to hope that my legs don't seize with cramps and my feet don't fall off ;)

And speaking of inspiration, this was great inspiration that my friend Karen posted on my Facebook wall today - thought I'd share it.

As they say, if you want to do something, then do it.

Long run day - 6 miles

So it's been a long time since I actually have a "long run" day and I forgot how rewarding it can be.

Foot cramps, blisters, sweat - all badges of honors for being bad ass enough to run more than an hour. There's nothing sweeter than putting out a goal and getting there. No matter how big or small or how fast or slow - when you cross a finish line, imagined or literal, in that moment - there's nothing you can't do.

So even though I'm fighting a slight panic of being slightly off from being trained for a half in a few weeks. I know I can do it. I might not be the fastest but I won't be the slowest (and if I am - so what?) I'll get across that finish line. I'm a runner.

Congrats Angela! And it's "only" 4 miles - 3 times

YAY to Angela Lee the "prime mover" if you will for my deciding to try to run a 1/2 marathon in the first place. She's added yet another medal to her belt and here's the very cute, 5th Anniversary edition of the Disney medal she earned for running the Disney half this past weekend:

So I have a few short weeks to get into enough running shape (well at this point; run/walk/jog/crawl) shape to do my upcoming half. I did four miles today, which wasn't awful (I think I could've done 5 if I had more time and motivation) but still not easy. But I did it and I keep thinking, I just have to do those four miles 3 times and I'll cross the finish line.

My goal for Friday is to get up early and do a long run of 6 miles. I think if I can get 6 in on Friday and a long run of 8 next week, I should be OK.  I think.

XO

Jen