Back on My Feet

Last week, I replaced a 3+1 (Wed/Thu) with a single 4 miler on Wed. It was not my intention, but at 5:30am Wednesday morning, circling up with Back on My Feet, I encountered the same two choices I usually do during my BOMF outings: run 4 miles with one of our more veteran members, or walk two miles with some of the newer guys. Up until last week, that choice was easy: I was never prepared to run 4 and almost always took to walking 2, sometimes trying to encourage whoever I was walking with to intersperse the walks with half-block jogs. Now that I'm training, I needed to run three that day, leading the way to the choice less chosen.

Most of our resident members don't have a particular running plan unless they're training for a race, but two of our guys are of the model sort and will run the longest distance we give them each day. So although the thought of 4 miles wasn't appealing, I had the confidence of knowing I had completed a 5-miler the weekend before so what the hell, right?

Well it wasn't so easy: his pace was a touch faster than mine, close enough to my pace to keep me prodding along but fast enough to make me want to cut the run short at each passing block. Not to mention the constant nagging in my stomach from the two slices of pizza I had devoured for dinner the night before. But during those four miles, I also reunited with the beauty of a good run -- if you push yourself past your comfort zone, you learn and discover that you're stronger than you think you are, and all those thoughts of "can't do it's," "don't want to's," etc... eventually fall by the wayside. I can't express how proud I am of these few members who are blazing this path and winning the match against self-doubt & lethargy every time they hit the pavement. Much better than I'm often able to do.

Here, blurry picture of our team:

Two missed runs, recovered

Last week, my training plan almost unraveled at its seams.

The week started out fine - Tuesday, 1 mile, check. Wednesday, I needed to wake up extra early to fit my run in before a 7am train to Harrisburg. Set the alarm clock, check. Of course, 5:30am produced its own story. Evidently, I didn't go to bed early enough and felt more like throwing up than running. So I threw in the towel that day, rolled over in bed but already plan B's and plan C's going through my mind of how I'd make up this 2 mile run - thankfully it was only 2 miles.

Wednesday evening, it just so happened it was dark out - surprise, surprise, it's winter - but feeling the compounded tiredness of a day's work, I figured, okay, I'll just tack on 2 miles to my run Thursday morning.

Thursday morning, of course, I woke up to the thought of how much it sucked that instead of only having to do a quick one-miler, I now needed to do three. Tragically, I was also awake enough to ponder the why's and what's the point's of this whole training plan/running/marathons altogether. Oh boy! In commitments, your mind can provide so much ammunition, but can also be your ultimate undoing.

As it happened, I didn't run Thursday either - 3 mile deficit at this point. So Friday morning, I set out with the intention to run 3 miles with Back on My Feet instead of walking 2 miles like I normally do. But oh no, I needed to learn the team dance for the holiday party later that evening! I somehow managed to fit in a quick one-mile between learning the dance and the team circling up at the end - whew! only 2 mile deficit now.

Saturday, I was SOOO thankful for John getting geared up to run with me, otherwise, that 3 miles may never have happened. And with 5 miles left to go for the week, I went out on Sunday, banged it out, and surprisingly felt not bad doing so. There it was, 10 miles for the week, and 8 was completed in the last two days, 9 in the last three days. But I'm so glad I got it done. I can't say that I'm not nervous about this upcoming week...

19 Miles down, and countless more to go...

They say it takes 3 weeks to form a habit - boy do I hope they're right!
Week 2 already brought on a confrontation with the "this really sucks!" part of training. With sleep deprivation chasing me down, I woke up Thursday morning with my head completely out of the game. A nippy 32 degrees outside, couldn't find my ear warmers, all I wanted to do was go back to bed and start the day over. But of course, a commitment is a commitment, and though every step sucked more than the one before, all I had to do was bang out one mile. So I did, and I wasn't happy about it at the time, but going into week 3 knowing I haven't [yet] strayed from the plan - I guess that feels pretty good.

So week 3 - I'm vowing to schedule my sleeps so I don't wake up on the wrong foot and we'll see how this goes. Schedule is: 1, 2, 1, 3, 3 (Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun). 10 more miles, here I come.

Cross-Training

Cross Training (runner's definition): v. to participate in a non-running form of exercise to build cardiovascular strength & flexibility without further wearing down your run muscles/joints.

My cross training for the week: yoga - on Sunday, immediately after my 3-mile "long" run.
Couldn't think of a better way to end a run if I tried. Keep the muscles warm, loose, and get a nice, deep stretch in a relaxing, be-good-to-your-wonderful-body sort of way. I was so zen by the time I got out and couldn't help thinking about what an accomplished first week of training I had - and about how awesome you all are for supporting me!

But holy-moly was I sore this morning!! In a good way - save for the 5min upon waking up this morning when I thought my run career was done for. That fear subsided when I realized that my arms were equally as sore as my legs - all those chatarangas will do it! - and also that the parts of my legs that I was feeling it in were bits of muscle that I didn't even know I had! Since when did stretching become an activity that'll cause your body to ache??

I do love the feeling though, of building strength where little existed before. So yes, I'll keep throwing yoga into the mix from time to time to keep my body from becoming a robot that only moves in one direction. Wish me luck as I embark on week 2: 10 miles total, starting with a 1 miler bright and early tomorrow! The good news is that temperatures will be in the mid 50's instead of 30's. :)

Week 1 Progress

After three consecutive mornings (Tues/Wed/Thu) of gearing up and running in sub-freezing temperatures, I can't help but feel a little gyped that I've only banked 4 training miles so far. I suppose, though, that the sheer commitment to running and early morning wake-ups is potentially more challenging than the mileage buildup. After all, they do say that it takes 21 days to form a habit so if I've still got this routine going come week 4, I'll really be earning those quarters/dimes/nickels you guys are saving. ;) And I do have 5 miles to look forward to this weekend after all, then another 274 after that before my planned half marathon in March...

For those whose facebook news feeds I've been featured on this week, you may have noticed some posts by this run-tracking app I started using called EndoMondo. Combined with my phone's GPS, it shows some nifty pictures of my run route, along with mileage and speed:

https://www.facebook.com/chauzilla/app_endoapp

I have to say, I'm feeling a bit uneasy at the thought of the entire world potentially having easy access to my physical location everyday - but if the social accountability keeps me motivated, I would consider it a fair trade.

And finally, for anyone who's been wondering what that jar of money will be going towards, I've just signed up to run the Broad Street Run, a 10-miler here in Philly, as a "fundracer" for - guess what charity: Back on My Feet! Love this organization - I spent my rest day today walking two miles with one of our guys but might see about combining some of my training runs with my BOMF outings. In any case, I'm feeling satisfied with the start of my training thus far, even though it took a solid hour of boiling myself in the tub this morning to regain feeling in my limbs. :)
More to come!

Restraint + Perseverance = Discipline

With my sister (who has taken the marathon runner baton for the past 3 years) home for Thanksgiving, it was the perfect opportunity to go for a post-gluttony, pre-training run. Easy 2 miles with a leisurely walk around the park in the middle. A bit of tightness in the left calf prevented me from doing more - but perhaps this is a blessing in disguise.

As it turns out, both the beauty and the frustration with the training plan I settled on is the conservative build-up in the beginning. Though my "training" thus far has existed entirely in my head - reading blogs, mapping out routes, researching shoes and gear - I've already been finding myself anxious to do much more than 1-mile runs at the onset - after all, isn't it that much easier to build to 13, then 26 if we start with 3's and 4's rather than 1's and 2's? But that pang in my leg this Friday reminded me why I shouldn't - no way am I letting my injury-prone body succumb to failure in the firest few weeks. I'm sure, too, that the discipline to not run more than 1 mile tomorrow will hopefully translate to pushing through to 9-10 miles come week 8 when I only want to do 3. :)

So I hereby vow to exercise both restraint & perserverance and with tomorrow's forecast of snow, it seems the elements are on board for testing that commitment. Better find myself some good hats before the morning!

The Plan/The Goal

Four years ago, I ran my first marathon, and to date, my only full marathon.
I've signed up for races since and have never performed the way I'd like, mostly because I'm no longer 24 years old and able to will myself through 26 miles without adequate training. Because let's face it, training through the bitter cold, the pouring rain, and the gross humidity of the Northeast just downright suuuuckkkss!

But after two recent meniscus tears and ever-lengthening post-race recovery periods, I've come to the conclusion that if I ever run another marathon, I need to train and train like crazy. And in order to ensure that I do, I need to incentivize like crazy and bring my friends in for both moral support and some no-excuses, kick me in the rear accountability.

So here goes, today is November 21, 2012, and beginning next week, I'll begin a 16-week half-marathon training plan to get me racing 13.1 by March 17th, then a prolonged build-up thereafter to prep up to 26.2 come fall 2013. Totally doable right? Right...

So let's take it one step at a time and start with the 1/2 marathon training plan (this one comes from the running guru):




Okay, so step one: 296.1 miles. Remember that incentivizing I was talking about?
Here comes my ask: For every mile I complete in this training cycle, I want you to put aside a quarter for me (or a dime, a yen or whatever is available to you.) Why? So we can take this journey together and also so that by the time Broad St Run (in May) or Marathon season (in fall) comes around, you'll have some cash on hand to travel down to cheer me on in person, or help me "fundrace" for charity to guarantee a spot in a popular race.

Thank you so, so much for being a part of my marathon chase - my first update will come next week! (... and with potentially $2.25 of your support at stake.) ;)