Just Look…

.. at that ticker! I’m 7.1 miles past my July goal! Yay!!  This was the last workout for July – so I was glad to push it over the top!

It was so very humid early this morning, I decided to keep my run inside.  I actually enjoyed my elliptical & treadmill run on 7/25, so I thought I’d repeat at least the treadmill part of it today.

Sheesh it was hard.  HARDER THAN IT WAS THE OTHER DAY!

Maybe it was because I had a performance last evening and then went out after for not-so-good-for-me food and a Yuengl1ng. [Don’t judge.] Or that I had a long 5.03 MILE RUN on Wednesday and my legs aren’t as fresh as they were earlier in the week.

Regardless, it’s done and now I have some time this afternoon for a nap before another evening perf0rmance.

Exciting news – I logged almost 30 miles this month! [Actually 29.91 miles.]  That’s the most I’ve logged in one month of running!!

If you asked me 5 months ago about running?  I’d thought you were crazy and myself even crazier.

Here – this made me smile.  After logging 2.27 miles on the treadm1ll, I was walking for a cool-down and I took my heart rate.  It was 120 bpm – just 1 minute after I was running 4.4 mph.  I checked the chart – it was listed as ‘athlete/endurance’ levels.

HA!  Athlete…

Right There Waiting…

… after my FIRST 5.03 MILE RUN on the MONT0UR TRA1L.

Yeah, I know. I didn’t think I was going to get in another JULY DEST1NATION RUN either.  Apparently, the stars aligned and all those ‘jazz hands’…

It was a beautiful morning for a run.  Cool, low humidity.  I was excited to explore the tra1l from Routes 50 and 980 near MUCK'S LUNCH.

I liked this part of the trail, partly because it’s tree-lined* and the path is not only rustic, but gravel/dirt and easier on my knees.  As I ran my first real distance with the 10:1 TRA1NING, I realized that I could actually DO more with this type of interval training.  With a little repetition and work, it could work for me physically as well as mentally.  Running 10 minutes, waiting for the 1 minute prompt to walk, it was easier to stay distracted and not worry about how far I’d gone or how much FURTHER I had yet to run.

Driving over, I thought about what distance I wanted to run – I don’t know why I settled on 5 miles, other than knowing I’d run over 4 miles the last two times I’d been out for a LONG run.  I just had this instinctive feeling that I could tackle the 5 miles easily.

As I took in my surroundings on the trail – I realized I could smell the hay fields and wild honeysuckle on either side of me.  I was running through farm country toward F0rt Cherry.  I noticed at least two benches in the 2.5 miles I ran out before doubling back.  I thought about the trail as a railway system and the hobos who’d jumped a boxcar to ride from point-to-point.  Here I was running the same route!

Headed toward me, I was passed by 3 bicyclists and 2 joggers – other than that, I didn’t see another soul.  It was peaceful, tranquil and I was able to go inside myself for a bit of introspection.

Perfect!

I gotta tell ya – it was good to see the port-o-potty on my return trip!!

I’m looking forward to my next run on the trail.  I’m thinking of heading to McD0nald and running toward F0rt Cherry then returning another time to run from McD0nald toward Imper1al.

Little by little, I’ll tackle the trail!

*Unfortunately, the trees played a little havoc with my G*P*S, but I got it figured out.

Quick Thoughts…

… I’m not sure that I’m going to be able to get in any other ‘destination runs’ for July. 

There’s just all kinds of craziness happening around here and I’m not sure I have the time.

That’s not to say that I’m not going to run – I am.  I will just have to stick around home/indoor track to get my mileage.

I have, however, started to train using this 10:1 METHOD.

It makes sense to me and I’m hoping to get a long run in so that I am able to actually determine whether it will be the right thing for me to do in preparation for the Great Race 10k.

I don’t NEED to run the entire way – I just need to cross the Finish Line.

Inside…

… was the word of the day.

Actually, I didn’t think that I would work out today at all.  I certainly didn’t plan on running.  After the long weekend of rehearsals and shows and parties and church, I thought I’d just keep it all in perspective and ‘chill’.

Unfortunately, the weather had different plans.  And apparently, so did my attitude.

When I woke up, it was already too hot and muggy to even sit out on the porch and enjoy my coffee.  And then as the morning went on, instead of relaxing, because of several personal situation, I just became more and more physically agitated.

I figured I’d head to the gym and just maybe walk or do the elliptical.

Boy did I ever.  20 MINUTES ON THE ELLIPTICAL didn’t score me much in distance, but it did have me working up a sweat.  Then I switched to the treadmill AND TOOK THAT FOR A NICE RIDE.  I hadn’t intended to run on the treadmill at all – I haven’t done that since when I first began the C25K program in March.*

For not intending a run/workout and using the opportunity to release some tension, it was a good workout and I’ll take it.

For today!

*I’m not particularly fond of running on the treadmill.  I don’t like to let go of the sides – I’m afraid I’ll lose my balance, fall and be swept right off the back.  I don’t lean on the bars, just enough to steady myself.  I don’t think that’s cheating at all.

This IS Why...

... Running is like Theatre and vice versa.

I have hit my physical Performance Wall. I'm exhausted and I know I have two more shows before I get a break.

I can do it, but now it's ALL a Mental Game.

-posted via Pi.

It Has Arrived!

And now I feel like a real Athlete!!

ROAD ID is identification – you know, just in case.

Since I run alone, I thought it would be an excellent idea.

Also a good company that donates a portion of each sale to a charity of your choosing.  Can’t go wrong there!

I have a discount code, if anyone is interested – leave me a comment.

Oh heck – leave me a comment any way!!

It was TOO HOT TO RUN OUTSIDE, so I took it indoors on the elevated track this afternoon.  I had to manually add the runkeeper info, because I was running inside. I had problems in the past with Nike+ indoor app because it works on ACCELEROMETER and since I take smaller steps, it wasn’t getting a good/acurate reading.

I’m not sure the reading I got yesterday was correct – but my goal was to run 30 continuous minutes and I figure from previous actual gps runs that it was somewhere over 2 miles.  I’m okay with a little ambiguity every so often.

The run cleared my head.  Reciting my 4-page opening monologue while circling the track gave me focus and took my mind off the boredom of being inside… which was a very GOOD thing for mind and body!!

I Don’t Know Whether…

… or not you saw these ph0tos from my last long run on the M0NTOUR TRA1L, so I thought I’d post them for you.

I RAN ANOTHER SECTION OF THE TRA1L that’s rather rustic and beautiful.  I passed a few walkers/runners – but saw more b1kers than any other.

The smell of wild h0neysuckle was so welcome, I’m looking forward to continuing my weekly DEST1NATION RUNS on a different section of the Tra1l…

I Had Every Intention…

… of getting up early and getting in a good run in this morning.

M0NDAY'S RUN WAS H0T – so I decided to make it a very short run.

I’d thought of MAKING THIS M0RNING'S RUN A DESTINATION run that I’m trying to add to my schedule in July.

Yeah.

Not so much.

Rehearsals every night this week is making me tired and I need to get up and out early before it gets too h0t to run.

However – the 2.23 MILE RUN I did around h0me this morning did the trick and it was one of my most consistent so far. 

My mile/time spl1ts were:

Can you believe that they were within a SECOND of each other?  To make this more impressive – keep in mind I wasn’t running a consistent route.  The terrain wasn’t even or the same – I was crossing major intersections.

So yeah – MUCH MORE IMPRESSIVE NOW – isn’t it?

You know why I think I enjoy runn1ng so much?? [HA! You probably don’t – so I’m going to tell you.]

Runn1ng is a metaph0r for life…

There’s a huge, HUGE hill on my way home.  Normally, I go part way up the hill and take a side road so I don’t have to add the huge, HUGE hill at the end of the run when I’m tired.

Today?

Today I ran that huge, HUGE hill – on the opposite side of the road which is even steeper !!

I stayed focused on form – pump your arms – lift your knees – lean forward.  Pick a goal and make it to the first tree – the second tree – the next walkway up to that house…

When I got to the top of that huge, HUGE hill? 

My first instinct was to look back and see where I’d been – just how steep that huge, HUGE hill was from the top vantage point.

Then it hit me. I realized I didn’t need to look back. 

I’d conquered that huge, HUGE hill, if just for today…

Let’s Talk About It…

… shall we?

A couple of hours have passed since I finished WH1SKEY REBELL1ON 2O11.

This was one of the most difficult hours of my life.

Physically, I just wasn’t feeling on top of my game.  The last few days, I’ve been very emotional and could cry at the drop of a hat.  I’m feeling stress about learning lines.  Self-imposed stress, but stress none-the-less.

I tried to do my best to hydrate, rest and eat healthily for the week prior to the rac3.  I had granola cereal and a 1/2 a banana for breakfast and a cup of coffee.  I went to the bathroom 4 times when we got to the track before the race – I was already dehydrated.  I could tell 500 feet into the race that my body didn’t have enough protein.

I barely made it up the first hill [that I had to do twice to complete the course] and I thought about taking a D*N*F.  I not only felt weak, I knew that my blood sugar was low – my breathing was labored.  There was so much adrenaline in my system that I knew if I didn’t settle down, I was going to have a full-blown pan1c attack.

I understood at that moment that it was up to my BRA1N to control what my body was going to do for the next three miles.  And then I realized that I was at the back of the pack… okay the VERY LAST PERSON, I knew that my bra1n had better do some very FAST managing or I could have a disaster of AMBULAT0RY proportions on my hands.

I was able to settle down a bit.  The breathing eased, but the physical feeling never was comfortable.  I tried to distract myself by looking around at people lining the streets.  They were there early for the parad3 and cheering.  I certainly couldn’t distract myself with the other runners, I was behind all of them.

This mental hurtle plagued me the entire rac3. 

In fact, it still bothers me. I ran the entire rac3 knowing that I was the very last person on the course because I was escorted by an E*M*T worker on a b1ke and behind us, a local p0lice patr0l car.

The good thing about this entire run?  I had set my g*p*s app to prompt me every half mile and give me my time/distance spl1ts.

Guess what?

My g*p*s was constantly telling me that I was on track for a good steady FAST run.  No matter that every one else was ahead of me – I was running a GOOD time [less than 13 mins per mile] for me!

 

Even the gigantic hill after mile one, I didn’t struggle.  I’d gotten myself physically under control – but my bra1n was out-of-control thinking about being last.

LAST. LAST. LAST.

It just kept echoing in my brain.

I can’t tell you how many times I thought about darting into an alley or side street and just NOT FINISHING.

All I can say is: Thank goodness for the p0lice beside/behind me, their close proximity kept me honest.

I did walk some – after about 2.5 miles when I had to run the first big hill for the second time and again after the 3rd mile on the back end of the course.  But those two walks combined were no more than about 500 feet.

I felt less guilty about walking than I did about NOT finishing.  I also knew that I had to run a V1CTORY LAP IN THE STAD1UM. 

Ugh.

Every one would be there – watching and waiting.

See what I mean?  While I was plagued by actual physical ailments [I thought about asking the E*M*T for a GLUC0SE TABLET], my brain was working so HARD to keep me distracted that I don’t remember one song from my iPh0ne playlist.

I was so very thankful for those half mile prompts in my ears letting me know that I was on track with my training runs.  I needed to keep putting one foot in front of the other and move into the stad1um.  [With all that was going on internally I wasn’t able to focus on form or think about my heel kick, my body was on auto-p1lot.]

The stad1um wasn’t bad – most folks were just milling around doing their own thing.  I focused on just getting around the track and trying to pick up the pace.  This wasn’t a rac3 where we had a timing chip – there was a time clock at the finish line.

I don’t wear distance glasses when I run – just sunglasses.  I wasn’t able to see the finish line clock until I ran past it on my ‘V1ctory Lap’. 

It said: 40:36.

Then my goal shifted from making it to the stad1um, to trying to beat my last clock time of 44:56.

44:15 when I ran under the time clock.

I’d finished.  I’d talked myself THOUGH a tough run.

While I’m happy that I was able to complete – I still can’t get past the feeling of knowing I was last. 

I wasn’t actually the last person across the finish line in the stadium – I passed several folks – I don’t know if they were walkers or runners.  But I do know – all the runners I was closest to on the course were at least a 1/2 track lap ahead of me. 

I did pass one runner on the course.  An elderly gentleman with a brace on each knee.  He passed me not long after that and I never was able to get close to him again.

What I need to remain focused on is MY race… this race benefitted the local H*S Cr0ss C0untry Team and most of the folks running were alumn1.  OF COURSE they’re going to be faster than me!  I’ve only been running for FOUR MONTHS!!

One of my acquaintances is a runner [I didn’t know he’d entered the race] and he came in Second Over All.  When I spoke with him after – he told me it was the most difficult c0urse he’d ever run.  He’s been running all his life – that should say something about the difficulty of what I’ve accomplished.

Give me a little time to digest this a bit more and revel in the p0sitive aspects of what I am able to take away from MY RACE…