Back on Track

We made it through hurricane Fay, everything is dried out and I am getting back on track. I admit, in the beginning, I was using the excessive rain as an excuse not to run. But that hurricane hovered over Florida for so long, dropping so much water, that it really got to the point where I COULDN’T run because it was too dangerous to be outside with the storming and the flooding. So within my first month I had 2 weeks that were not what they should have been. But overall, I am actually proud of how much better I feel one month and 24 miles later.

That said, this morning I did my first 5 miler for my long-run. I was feeling pretty good, so I pushed a bit harder than I normally do – perhaps it was too hard because after finishing my 5 miles, I was cooling down and stretching, and within about 2 minutes of finishing my run I threw up. And no, I hadn’t just eaten, in fact I hadn’t eaten anything yet since it was so early when I got out. Not a pretty site. But on a positive note, now that its all over – I feel great! haha    I am 100% sure I will be sore tomorrow. I think I would have been sore anyway because we were out on the boat yesterday, knee boarding, and the water was so rough with hurricane Gustav on the horizon… so I got quite a workout from that too. I think we may be going out again today, afterall it is a holiday weekend. I wonder if knee boarding, water skiing, etc counts for my cross training?!?

Totally Bummed

So I wake up this morning at about 5:45 sooo tired.  Of course I was up until almost 1am watching the Olympics. I can’t help it. I HAD to watch Michael Phelps swim and I am addicted to watching gymnastics too!  So I didn’t want to get out of bed, but I knew that I had to. So I did.. about a mile into my run it starts POURING. Hard. Do I run through it or turn around?  Of course if I turn around I still am soaked anyhow, and I actually feel really good this morning!  But I decide to turn around anyway and figure I’ll make up for it this evening because I’m trying to shield my iPod from getting too wet – like thats possible, as I am already completely drenched from head to toe.  The rain actually felt great, but I was worried about my iPod. Unfortuneatly, it was too late   The iPod won’t even turn ON now.  One could use this to reason that I SHOULD HAVE procrasinated and stayed in bed afterall haha   But no no, I know better.

I WANT to be a runner

FINALLY… week 1 is over.  11 miles total, and here’s how I feel: Running sucks. I am terrible at it. It hurts. It is boring. There, I said it.

Everyone says to me – I didn’t know you were a runner?!?! My reply… well, uh.. I’m not. I mean, yes I do get up very early to run before work, and yes I am running in a marathon in January… but a runner I am not. I’ve never had the “runners high”. I’ve never even had my “second wind”.  Instead, I get really bad cramps, my head pounds, my skin itches like crazy, I can’t breath, and I get SOO flushed and red. And the redness stays with me for like 3 hours, even after showering and drinking tons of water. Out of shape? Yes, clearly. But even when I was younger, swimming competitively and competing in triathlons – running has never come easy to me. It is and always has been such a struggle.

So yes, its true. I do NOT enjoy running. WHY WHY then, have I committed myself to a half marathon in December and a full marathon in January? Because I really really WANT to be a runner.   I found an awesome quote today that I think sums it up and I love love love it:

“You don’t have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great.” -Les Brown

Not that I have any real desire to be a great runner. I just want to feel great from running. That being said, I do have to admit, that even though I feel lousy and slow and out of shape during my runs, I do feel proud of myself for doing it anyway despite all of that.  So that’s something.

Day 1

Sheesh. This morning when the alarm went off I swear my head had just hit the pillow. 5am… somehow I was MUCH more excited about this yesterday than I was this morning. I thought about saying, to heck with this I’ll run after work. But who was I kidding? I know my limitations, so I rolled my butt out of bed to get dressed for my first run since… oh boy… yes, about 11 years ago. There I said it.

Stretched? Check. Water? Check. ipod? check. OK I think thats everything. Off I go, down my street at a slow jog to warm up… after getting down the road a bit I find myself surprised, thinking Hey, now this isn’t so bad. Maybe I’ve still “got it” afterall!  Heck yeah!!  Wait, I spoke to soon – cramp.  YEEOUCH. I try to run through it but the cramp gets tighter and I have to walk, no biggie Michelle – first day, go easy on yourself I think. So I look at my watch to see how much longer. What??? Tap tap… is this thing even WORKING??? 4 minutes?!? Its only been 4 minutes?!? You’ve got to be k-i-d-d-i-n-g.  Oh boy this is gonna be a long 6 months. Right now about all I can think is stupid. stupid. michelle this was so stupid.

So I grin and bear it through the entire *gulp* 2 miles. Yes, I know its only 2 miles, but hey. Baby steps, right? Surprisingly every part of my body is tightening up except my legs. Is that weird? I dunno..

As the day went on I could feel different muscles in my body getting back at me.  It started with my legs – they were kinda spaghetti-ish. My neck. And my head. Killing me all day. My back, my thighs right above my knees. Even my stomach muscles, all over. Wierd, I swear my body didn’t get sore ALL OVER like this when I trained for Chicago 11 years ago. Hmm… Wait. OK, yeah. No wonder. It was 11 years ago. I was 22, not
33. I guess that explains alot. Yeah.

Well tuesdays are “rest” days.  So in theory, I could pretend that I don’t know better, and take that literally. But I’ll make it known here for you all so you can hold me to it – REST does not mean rest. It means do something other than RUN. So tomorrow I’ll ride the stationary bike instead of running. Until next time…