26.2=?

So I was speaking with my Uncle’s mom and she heard I did a marathon, and she asked how many miles is that, so I told her; 26.2.  She then asked if I ever planned to run the NYC marathon and I said definitely, its one I really want to do.  She then proceeded to tell me; “You know that one’s 26 miles too right?”  Really?!??!!  I had no idea that every marathon was the same length!  Sorry, I know that was a little sassy, but it was a tad hard for me to keep a straight face.

Anywho, my training is going well, as I said I hit 20 miles this past week.  So this week I’m planning on 22-23, not really sure which yet, I’m going to play it by ear…er well…. legs.  I ran a tiny weeny bit over 4 today when I dropped my youngest brother off at work (he’s growing up).  He’s working at a YMCA type building for the week and there is a park right next to it that I decided to run at instead of the roads.  So when I drop him off the rest of the week I’m going to run there to get some fun time in.  This is the park fyi, in case you care.. and if you don’t; Oh well I don’t care!    I’ve also started reincorporating Insanity back into my workout program. 

I just want to say, that  this picture is extremely true.  I’m in the 2nd month of the workout right now and I’ve heard that it makes you feel like you didn’t do anything during the first month.  And…. the rumors were true.  I did it for the first day today; I popped the dvd in and oh hey! It’s a full hour workout! And don’t worry, we plan to do moves in this 1st workout dvd that you’ve never done before or thought of before. 

I swear to y’all Sean T wants me to die.  I’m not even kidding.  Anywho, I literally had sweat covering my entire body, I felt like a sumo wrestler who had just been oiled up before competition no lie.

Moving along, I feel pretty good even though the dvd kicked my ass.  I was able to keep up for longer than I had when I first started the 1st dvd. 

Anywho, I will be going to the CDTC for the last time this week before school, that’s right I’m headed back to the grand ‘ole land of Potsdam in less than a week.  But that’s besides the point.  I have my last CDTC and I’m actually a little nervous because since swim lessons ended I’ve been sporadically swimming and not even that much.  I almost cringe to think of what my time is going to be this week.  Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to have fun with it with my friend Christine, who btws started her own blog, so I’ll be the creep that posts the link here.

And also as promised, I will add my Facebook stolen creeptastic photo that she demanded *cough* asked for.  It’s her at her latest Triathlon, because people she is most definitly one of those people you want to be like.  It was a half Ironman and the picture here doesn’t do the medal justice.  Trust me, I saw it in person, it’s HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And obviously well deserved.  Oh I should probably mention she’s the taller one and the other woman is her friend Becca.  So now that I’ve sufficiently creeped on my friend, discussed my training a bit and bored you to death.  I believe I’m good. 

So until later, TTFN. 

Sometimes I feel like I should do Crystal Meth..

But then I think ‘mmmm, better not.’  Haha hilarious quote from a trailer I saw while at the movies.  The movie being advertised was called Pitch Perfect, and it looks really good and funny, so I’m definitely going  to see it when it comes out.  Anywho, I decided to start this post off semi-interesting because I fully intend to talk about training and boring things that are going on in my life for the rest of it.  So moving right along…..

My life is now consisting of packing, working out, and……. yeah that’s about it.  I’m slowly increasing my mileage every week, emphasis on slowly.  I’ve been increasing each week by 2 miles, and I mean I could probably increase it by more, say by like 3 miles, but after my stress fracture last year I’m playing it more on the cautious side.  This week I hit 20 miles for the first time since before my marathon.  Everyone say 20! 

So I’m pretty happy about it, my main goal has mostly been to remain injury free, so I call it a win so far.  The only problem I’ve really had is some slight knee pain, which mostly just means ice needed.  And then some slight back pain the past few days, which I think mostly had to do with the fact that I was sleeping on the floor for several days while Chel slept in my bed.

Moving along…… I’ve been running mileage and I know it’s not very high, but after talking to my friend Christine who goes to a different college (D1 or D2?) she only runs 40 miles a week because that’s the amount of miles that works best for her.  Personally, from last summer I believe I can get up to 40 miles and run well.  I’ve also started adding some speedwork a.k.a. repeats.

Which brings me to my next point.  I’m frustrated going into this cross-country season because my coach is frustrating me.  Fancy that! Anywho, at the beginning of the summer we all got emails stating we had to run 7 mins flat for a mile in order to compete in meets.  How barefoot running is discouraged and a bunch of other crap.  I tried emailing my coach 2x after we got the email but he never responded to me.  So I emailed my assistant coach and he answered me with; “Pete and I think it’s a very attainable goal if you work hard enough.”  That may be, but I don’t understand the motivation behind it.  I’ve been running my ass off for the past 2 years and I’ve brought my 5k time down from 30 mins during my freshman year to 25 mins so far before the season.  And you know what? I’m still not running constant 7 minute miles!  At this moment in time I ran a 7:19 mile.  To my understanding if we don’t hit 7 mins flat we can’t compete.  So at this point I’m under the impression of well ‘I might as well walk the timed mile if 19 seconds is really going to keep me from competing’.  And even if I am able to hit 7 mins I can guarantee that I can not run a 21 minute 5k, at this moment in time. 

I’m getting more and more frustrated as the weeks go on and I’m feeling at this point like I need to say something to my coach.  I want him to reassess the goal he’s put in front of us.  I understand that he might be trying to motivate us to get us to work harder and get better, but what’s going to happen is people are going to focus so hard on hitting 7 minutes for our time trial that they aren’t going to work on endurance so that 1 mile isn’t going to make much of a difference in their overall 5k time.  Also, if my coach actually coached and was around to see his team, he might understand the fact that only 2 individuals on the women’s team are able to run that mile.  Myself, and everyone who would come in after me were running on average 8:30-9:30 miles. 
No way is working my ass off for one summer going to take my time down that much.  Hell, working my ass off for the past 2 years to bring my mile time down from 10 minutes to 8 minutes is going to make me able to run a 7 minute mile.  Mostly, I think my coach needs to be more of a coach and stop telling us we need to work harder when he’s not even there the vast majority of the time to help us improve.

Fyi, this is the track in my mind, usually focused on one thing at a time… in a sort of ADD type way.

I’m terribly sorry for that major b****fest but I’ve had it on my mind for awhile now and I needed to get it out.

Moving along to another topic.  I am currently packing for my move back to school in exactly one week.  I’m moving in early for preseason and I’m kinda anal about my packing and making sure I have everything so I get started early.  Plus it takes me a long time to actually do it because I get sidetracked and end up forgetting about it.

I’ll give more of an update on that later, but for now I’m heading to bed. 

Until later, TTFN.

The Concept of Possible.

Well I can honestly say that my concept of possible has seriously changed since I did the marathon.  If you told me back in high school I would one day run a marathon, let alone one of the hilliest/toughest marathons for my 1st marathon, I probably would’ve believed you, if barely, and then would’ve REALLY questioned it. 

Anywho, now that I’ve run a marathon I’ve got my sights set even more.  My plan has always been to run an ultramarathon, in fact I’ve had my sights set on the 100 mile Western States Endurance Run.  But I know my parents and I need to “prove” my ability to run long distances before I can run an ultra.  So I’ve been slowly working my way up the steps; half-marathon whose course is super flat and fairly easy, to now a marathon that is super hilly with elevation change. 

People say that you don’t know what your body is capable of until you test it’s limits.  Well I think that’s more than true and I also think the saying what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger is even more true.  This marathon didn’t kill me and the next marathon I run won’t either.  It’ll show me more of what my body is capable of.  And I think it’s capable of some pretty bad ass type things.  So while I am taking the week off because of my surgery you can bet that as soon as I’m cleared. It’s go time! 

Especially once I figure out whether or not I actually have a stress fracture.  I’ve been checking my foot every day and so far I don’t have any pain.  Even when I press down on the spot where it was painful on Sunday there isn’t any real pain.  Considering that fact makes me feel really positive, I’m hoping it was a muscle pain due to wrapping my foot too tightly.  But we will see for sure come Monday.  Until then its work, rest, and trying not to go stark raving mad from not running! 
That’s it for now, Until later, TTFN.

Lake Placid Marathon Recap.

Ok so sorry it’s been a few days after the marathon but things have been a bit hectic, but I will explain that later.  So I shall start at the beginning and go to  the end.   Sunday morning started off with a lovely wake up alarm at 3:30 am.  I kid you not.  This is what I like to call my ‘I just got up, don’t expect much’ face.

As we can all tell…. Not pretty.    But after a lovely hot cup of coffee with a bit of food in me I quickly turned into;

 a very serious Sara.  It’s my; “It’s 4:40 in the morning, do you know where your kids are‘ face.  Personally, if I had kids I’d be wondering where they were, but I don’t so I don’t care.

But let’s get for reals.  I quickly got down to business and was pumping up my jams to get into the mood for my race.  Plus, I got to wake my mom and brother Tim, who would be coming with me, up at 4:50 in order to leave by 5:15.

So perky Sara is up and ready for action!

In between my eating, drinking coffee, and getting pumped up I remembered to write on my arms.  Remember how I mentioned before since I wasn’t going for time I wanted to write thinks I was thankful for on my arm? You don’t? Well you know now. Anywho, I had to use both arms.

This was the first 13 miles.  And the next 13.2 miles were done on the other arm.  The ones on my left arm didn’t come out quite as neat as these ones, mostly because I’m not left-handed. 
Anywho, I found during the race that they turned out to be very good motivators for the first 1/2 but I managed to get sidetracked during the second 1/2 to the point that I wasn’t focusing on what I’d written quite as much.  So here’s the second 1/2;

As you can see I have a lot of motivation, and truthfully during the race the writing was smudged and sort of sweated off.  But I shall not dwell on my nastiness.  Moving along…

The car ride was pretty much uneventful.  All I really did was eat a bit more food, drink some water, and tape my feet to keep my blisters from rubbing raw and bleeding again.  Look at my handiwork;

Beautiful aren’t they? Anywho, we got to Lake Placid a tad before 6:30, because I’m anal retentive and made sure we left on time/early for the race.  Plus, this way we found a lovely parking spot, the registration, and most importantly- the bathrooms!  I shall now show you some scenic shots of the area where the start/finish was.  It was right next to the Olympic center in Lake Placid.

And the finish line;

This was actually in the outdoor speed skating oval. They had the last tenth of a mile on this track.  And in the center green were the registration tent, medical tent, massage tent, and food tent.  All very important once you finish.  Alas, I would not see the Finish again for several hours once the race started.  

Personally, I really enjoyed seeing the flags of all the other countries up around the oval.  But I digress… I checked in and got my number on, my number to marathon greatness!

Or I guess you could say number 31.  But that’s besides the point.  My mom and brother Tim did a great job of creepily following me around all day.  Which was very nice of them considering they could’ve gone to the beach or done some shopping.  Instead they decided to stalk me and keep me motivated and for that I am extremely grateful.  But we shall move on to their stalker-esc type pictures now. 

I think this is between miles 2 and 3, no wait.. I’m sure this is between miles 2 and 3.  I was still feeling good so I was smiling.  You know how misleading long runs are into making you feel fantabulous.  
Depending upon what loop this was I’m thinking either mile 5 or mile 14.  But it’s a toss up as to which loop so I don’t really know. 

When I get really delirious or in pain I like to make faces at people to distract myself.  Or to scare people away.  It depends. 

Oh lord! This is my main man and I.  he’s in the green shirt running next to me.  We legit became Besties during this marathon, we ran together for at least 6 miles and I learned his life story.  Haha I loved him! I never caught his name but he was straight up adorable and he kept me motivated which was nice.  

Sidenote time: My mom ran with me from mile 14-15, which was awesome cuz I was in a bad place mentally at that point and really needed that boost from my mom.  Well at the end of the race my brother came and found me with a mile left to go.  He came up next to me and asked: “May I have the honor of running this last mile with you?”  I almost starting crying it was so sweet.  So he helped keep me going to the end, which was nice because the last mile was pretty much all uphill, the race organizers just like to torture me. 

I don’t have any of my official finish right now, depending upon when the official pictures from the race are ready I’ll have some later.  But my mom took this after I finished.  My brother gave me a huge hug, which was nice because it kinda kept me standing to be honest.  Then of course what’s the first thing I want to do?  Well eat of course!

Mom! Stop making me pose with my medal when I’m attempting to stuff my face with as much food as possible!

Another Sidenote: I have a book that I write in all the things I want to accomplish before I die.  Well, I was looking through it before this weekend and I found #201. Run a marathon.  Well I’m happy to say that that goal has now been checked off, take a look for yourself; 

So that’s pretty much it for my epic journey of a marathon.  I ended up running it in 5:43:17, which I’m pretty proud of considering I learned after that it was one of the hardest courses not only because of hills, but because of elevation change.  So I figure if I can run/complete this marathon I can run/complete any marathon. 

Besides that, I won’t lie- I walked a bit during this race and I’m completely ok with it.  If you’re not, oh well, I don’t care.

Oh and I might have a stress fracture because hey when I run a marathon I do it right. 😛 

And I’d like to take a moment to say that my friend Justin was right, this was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done both physically and mentally.  I hit a lot of low points during the race and I’m damn proud of myself for not quitting.

But I won’t worry about that till I see the Dr.  for the rest of this week its rest. Both because I want to and because I have to. 
You see I had eye surgery on Monday to take care of a droopy eye lid I’ve had for over a year now.  Hence why I didn’t blog about my race yesterday.   Because well… this is what I looked like; 

Yes I am smiling even though I can only see out of one eye.  Why? You ask, well that’s because I like the nickname Cyclops.

Anywho, I got the bandage off today and so I shall show you a picture of me today.  It’s not to bad, a bit swollen and bruised but that is to be expected. 

So that is all I believe I have to say.  I think I’ve talked myself out for now and I hope all y’all are appropriately satisfied since you had to wait a few extra days for the recap. 
So that’s it for now, until later TTFN.

Radio Silence inititating.

So I’m giving y’all a heads up that this will be my last post until after the marathon.  Tomorrow I am heading up north and won’t have internet and I won’t have any time to blog before because I have a few errands to run.  I’m currently writing this in my last ditch attempt to stay up really late because I’m getting up wicked early tomorrow in the hopes that I will be crashing at a ridiculous time the following night.  I have to get up at 4 at the absolute latest Sunday morning so I’m getting ready.  As my lover (Steve Prefontaine)’s coach Bill Bowerman would say in without limits.

Hay’s in the barn. 

Until later, TTFN.

The non-existant Taper.

Sooooooooooooooooo, you know how in marathon training schedules you’re supposed to taper……yeah……well I haven’t really done that.  I ended up running a total of 12 miles yesterday, not that impressive, but considering I’m supposed to be tapering right now, probably not the best.  But I’ve decided that I’m ok with it, I have more confidence going into this race having a few extra miles under my belt this week rather than not.  Besides, it’s not like I’ve learned my lesson because I ran with my friend Eric last night. 

This is my friend Eric, in the dark blue.  Well….er… this is more my friend Eric.

He’s kind of what people would call…..a champ.

His 5k is in the 15 minute zone, and mine is in the 25 minute zone.  So when we run together after a long time a part we have a tendency to… shall we say… forget?  How fast/slow the other is.  We ran 3.5 miles together yesterday and his “jog” is my race pace. 

Haha when I apologized for being so slow he said; “That’s ok I wanted to run slow today.” He’s nothing if not adorably honest.

Anywho, it was lovely catching up with him because we are  both busy.  He always gives me a good workout if nothing else when we run together and it was officially my last run of the week before Sunday.  So I wouldn’t want to spend it any other way besides running with my friend.  So that’s kinda it for now.  Countdown: 3 more days until Placid. 

So I’ll give you a final update tomorrow before a few days of radio silence.  So until later TTFN.

My LSD.

Haha I bet you thought I was talking about the drug.  Sorry peoples I was talking about LSD= Long Slow Distance.  That’s right.  Most marathon training programs are saying take it easy, 4 miles at most.  Not the Sara training program!  I’ve had a my confidence really shaken this week, it seems as though my whole family doesn’t believe I can do/finish this race. 

However, 2 of my good friends; Kinga and Justin gave me some much-needed pep talks.  They both pretty much told me that they believed that I could do it.

Justin’s pep talk included, and I quote; ” Sara!!! You’re going to do great!! Take it easy this week get plenty of sleep, eat right and everything will fall into place. Above all this race is going to be the most mentally and physically challenging tasks you have ever attempted. Mind set is key! Stay strong mentally and you will conquer it!!! Best of luck!!!” 
That’s right people, no paraphrasing in this blog! 

Plus I went on a 10 mile run today.  Ooopsy that’s not in a marathon training program.  Oh wait, I don’t care.  Anywho, I ran around 10:30ish miles so I’m happy with the time because I am aiming between 10-12 minute miles for my marathon.  Plus, I took my race belt out on its maiden voyage, mostly because I didn’t want my marathon to the 1st time I used it. 

This beauty and I got very well acquainted on the run today.  I can now grab my water, open my pockets, eat, drink, and run all at the same time! I felt very professional.   So that’s one more thing that I can feel good about going into this race.  I know I’m prepared, maybe not up to other people’s standards and hell maybe not even up to my own when it comes to the grind, but I don’t care.  I feel good right now and I’m going to let myself feel good without questioning it too much.

Besides the fact that I’m a tad sore from my run today.  surprisingly not as sore as I thought I would be, but still a bit sore nonetheless.

Moving on to bigger things, this is Big Bertha or Double B/ BB for short. Anywho, my dad got a new minivan so he gave my brother and I this one to use/ more me to take back to school come fall.  It’s a tank of car that sucks up massive gas, so much that one of my jobs’ paycheck will probably mostly go to filling her up.  But I love her nonetheless. 
It took me a few days to decided if she was going to be a he or a she, then I decided on she.  I saw a lot of myself in her.  We both might not go super fast, but we can go for miles.  She’s kinda like a tank, hence the name Big Bertha.  And in that name there’s a lot of power, don’t count her out she’s got a lot to give.   But I digress…

Anywho, I’ve decided that come the next school year she will have running bumper stickers in the back window and will probably smell like icy hot on the inside.  Along with that she will constantly have a spare change of running clothes and water bottles in case I ever get a random running urge.  Because who knows? 

So that’s my latest update on my prerace jitters, only 5 more days until the race.  So that’s it for now, Until later, TTFN.

Then and Now.

You know, I  went for a run yesterday before work and I realized something: I’ve come a long way since I started in High School.  So to enjoy my revelation (that’s what I’m going to call it) I’m going to talk about it today.  Back in High School I started running as a way to keep in shape for soccer (this was my main sport) and when I got cut during try-outs my sophomore year my friend Tirzah spent the whole year convincing me to do cross-country the following fall.  And well she won the convincing.  I ran in High school, always finishing last or second to last for my team at races and usually at the back of the pack for the entire race.  I don’t believe I know my time never went below 27:56 for a 5k in high school and that was during senior year.  Despite the fact that I never ran any fast races, and let’s be honest didn’t really try that hard I had fun.   Me at my homecoming parade —>

It was a fun time and I quickly fell in love with running.  Then came my freshman year of college and boy was I in for an awakening.  Preseason was full of 2 a days and long miles.  I quickly realized this wasn’t the same as high school.  But I still wasn’t serious yet about my running, sure I loved it and I loved being on the team, but I wasn’t quite ready to go out and run 5 miles everyday.  Heck some days if I ran 12 minute miles that was perfectly fine with me.  Often I wouldn’t even run everyday, and that was perfectly fine with me.  Mind you, I didn’t like coming in last every race, but I didn’t have enough drive to really do anything.

Then something happened that woke me up…..Regionals.  At Regionals I wasn’t able to race due to the fact that we could only have 6 women run and I was the 7th with the slowest time.  Naturally, as he should, my coach let the 6 fastest girls run.  I didn’t run in Regionals. 

Me and the ladies on my team freshman year ———–>

Needless to say, I was very upset.  My mom had come to watch me run and I cried because of it.  Then one of the girls who ran faster times than I did dropped out before a mile into the race, for in my perspective, no real good reason.  It was after that race that I decided I was going to train my butt off and never not be able to run in a race again.

So I did, I started running everyday, even cross training.  I entered race after race and did my own workouts both on and off the track.  That year following the season I ran a 10k, my first half-marathon with Hollikins and Justin.

These races just added to my motivation.  Especially when I came home ran a 5k for the first time since season and had cut 4 minutes off my time. That just showed me that my hard work was paying off so I pushed myself harder.  I ran my first triathlon with my Uncle Danny towards the end of the summer.

And soon after, I learned I had a stress fracture.  Once the boot was on I went home and cried… it seems like I do a lot of that.  I’d been working my butt off all year in preparation for the cross-country season and it all went to waste in my eyes with my fracture.  I couldn’t believe it, 2x I would have running races taken away from me.

Luckily, I followed Dr.’s orders and kept the boot on and healed quickly.  And I came back into the season after missing only 2 meets.  And you know what? My times were where they were when I came home and ran the first 5k of the summer. 

Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to drop more time, but being able to run was a the best thing.  Compared to the season before where I finished every race last on my team and last overall I was now 4th sometimes 3rd out of the women on my team to finish. I was in heaven, and this year I ran at Regionals.

I’ve come a long way since high school, just this past April I ran that same half-marathon again and PR’d by 15 minutes.  All with no long run over 5 miles.

Since high school I’ve grown as a runner, not just cutting my times down from before but I’ve also learned how to listen to my body and how to train.  Running isn’t just a sport a I love, it’s my sanctuary.  And now in a week and a half I will be running my first marathon.  (Family issues might cause this to be a no go).  Who would’ve thought that the slow ass girl who always finished last in High School would turn her running around and progress to run half-marathons and marathons?  Certainly not me.

I’d be lying if I said I was happy where I am now and didn’t have higher goals for myself.  But I think every runner does so I’m not too worried.  I’ve learned a lot over the past few years and I hope to keep learning with my running. 

So that’s all for now, Until later TTFN.

Why yes it is a race.

So this is my bike.  I quite like it, but I didn’t always…………  In fact, I usually hate biking with an unholy passion.  Like legit.  But for some reason this past month or so I’ve really been getting in the biking grove which is good because it is leading right into triathlon season, but I digress….

Anywho, last year when I started biking and getting my toes wet with tri’s I hated biking.  It was my least favorite leg, I hated biking to get in shape for my races.  I hated it, once again, with an unholy passion. But recently I’ve started loving it.  For those days when its soooo nice out that I can’t sit inside,but I don’t want to run- I go for a ride.  It really clicked for me this past weekend when I went on a 7 mile bike ride around town.  I don’t know if it’s because it’s so beautiful to ride around up here at school or if I’m really just falling in love with it, but I’m not going to question it.

And yes, that is a race sticker from my tri last year that I never took off.  As you can see, I don’t lock it up.  I never do up at school, I have an unnatural ability to just trust it not to get stolen.  And so far so good, I’ll probably start locking it once it actually gets stolen.  But for now the only people who take it are my friends on late nights, when they are drunk and want some fun.  Considering I never know because I’m in bed and they tell me the next day I don’t see any harm in it.  Especially since they always put it back where they found it.  But then again, I digress…

With that being said I know I haven’t posted in a few days, but it’s been a little crazy with finals and packing.  However, I’m right on top of everything.  So much so because today and Thursday I dont’ have any finals all day so I have nothing to do.  So I’ve been packing my room very slowly.

My room is a tad cray cray right now with all of my stuff shoved in a corner so that I can still move around.  I’m happy because as I’ve been going through my stuff I’ve been getting rid of a lot and giving it to a charity collection or friends and such so I’m declutter my life a bit which is nice.  It’s the end of the year and its a little sad to go home and not really see my friends too much until next year, but it’ll be nice to have a change of pace.  I’m excited to go home and start working and making money.  But also to see some of my high school friends who I still keep in touch with.  We reconnect the most during the summers because we are able to run together again and get lunch and such nonsense. 

Also, I had a lovely run yesterday.  I ended up doing a little over 4 miles and it was a nice easy pace.  Towards the end I was running towards my school and on the other side of the road there was a runner running the same way.  At first I was behind him and then I slowly started catching up and finally I passed him.  As I passed him I looked at him and was kinda like; “Yes, this was a race.  And yes, I did just win.” Score.  It was a nice ego boost at the end of my run.  With that being said I have 3 1/2 weeks left until my marathon.  I’m both excited and nervous.  I have 3 goals for myself since this is my first marathon.  My goals are; 1. To finish, 2. To not walk at all during the whole race, and 3. To finish under 5 hours.  This last one is important to me because it’s usually around that time that the crew starts packing up and leaves.  I’d like to finish before they leave, kind of as a way to keep my dignity in tact. But other than that I don’t really have any other time goals.  I’m looking forward to running it for the experience and if I like it I’ll run it again next year. 

So I believe I have talked/written? myself out.  So until later, TTFN.

Getting back in the swing….

Ok I’m getting back in the saddle, er.. shoes? So my break ended up being longer than I wanted it to be, but honestlyI’m ok with it.  I’d rather take a little over 2 weeks off and have my foot be 100% than try to start running too early and screw it up more.  Especially since my marathon is coming up in a month.  Which, I also know that taking that long off has affected my stamina and endurance when it comes to my training, but I still think I made the right move.

In my opinion, if I can run my half, 15 minutes faster than the year before without doing a long run over 5 miles I can definitely do my marathon.  And yes I know that I definitely need a long run in the double digits.  However, I do know my body pretty well so I think that if I train like I planned, and work my butt off there isn’t a reason why I can’t finish my marathon.  I don’t need to set some sort of record for myself I just need to finish, it is my first marathon after all.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I get mad when people tell me how to train for things.  Especially my marathon, I mean if you’ve run one before and you want to give me advice, I’m all for it.  But if you haven’t run one before and you try to tell me how to train and discourage me I don’t particularly enjoy it.  Especially since I know my body better than anyone else.

That’s right, I said it.  Ok, maybe doctor’s know what’s wrong with my body better than I do sometimes, but I mean overall……….well, you know what I meant.  I don’t know that’s just my thought process.  Sorry for the rant-y type post but I just felt like it needed to be stated.  Plus, I just went on my 2nd run since my foot, and I felt good.  I mean yesterday I felt good, but died a little.  Today I didn’t even die a little so I’m considering that good.  I mean hey; My muscles know what to do.

So that’s it for now, Until later. TTFN.