Motivation

So I had been thinking that I need a visual motivator so I decided to do a cork board with all my running stuff. Here are the results:



It's up in our spare room where I keep all my running gear. I like how it came out. I can't wait to add more stuff to it! I did an easy 3 miles last night so I'm already at 8 for the week (Sun - Sat is my "week") so I'm doing well. I am trying to just take it one day at a time so I can really enjoy it. I will be honest that I am looking forward to some cooler weather to run in.

My Dad did his second 5k of his second running life this past Saturday. His first one a few months ago was a good race but he hasn't happy with his time. He was a little over 30 minutes. Well, this time it was a whole other story. He's been training all summer and ran a great race Saturday. 25:56 was his time! I am so proud of him. AND, he thinks he can beat this time too so I look forward to seeing what he does next!

My next half marathon is 47 days away and I'm really looking forward to it. My ultimate goal is to beat my previous time and I know with solid training, I definitely can do it. (I think the cool October temperature might have a nice effect too!) Motivation is my biggest thing right now. If I can stay motivated, I can do anything.

MW

Lazy

So I've been pretty lazy the past week or so. I haven't felt motivated and I really didn't want to do any exercising. Last week I put in a HORRIBLE 3 miles. I can't believe it. I am trying to get back on track. I did 5 miles last night. I am going to shape up because I WILL beat my half time in October. I blame my lack of motivation on my work. :) The past couple of weeks my running website hasn't been working on my work computer but it is again now. So now I'm sure that I'll be 100% motivated again! Ha.

Anyway, I'm apologizing to myself for being a slacker. I'm turning it around. I want to hit my 600 mile mark by my wedding anniversary (9/27) because I should have hit it sooner than that had I actually been doing my mileage like I was supposed to. Oops. :)

I did an easy 5 miles last night on the treadmill. I need to get back outside. It's just been too darn hot to get out there. I got new batteries for my headlamp so I will be prepared to run when it's dark but I will try to avoid EEE! I should get some bug spray.

MW

Bin

So I realized that my running clothes/gear have taken over my bureau and I no longer have room for my real clothes. With back to school sales I found a big plastic bin for $7 and two smaller bins for $1 each. I decided that for my peace of mind (and Jess') it would be good to organize my running stuff and keep them in the spare room because honestly, they smell a bit.

WARNING TO THE PUBLIC:

I know it seems like a good idea, but don't put your baby in the bin.



Here are my shoes on top of the bin. The oldest are on the left, my Zoom Structure Triax 12's. This winter they will become my ice/snow running shoes. I will insert sheet metal screws to the bottom to make them have traction on those surfaces. They are a little small on me (I now run in a 7.5 and they are 7's) but I have a good pair of thin socks that actually warm my feet up as I run. In the middle are my pink Zoom Structure Triax 13's that I bought in April and wore in my first half marathon. The ones on the far right are my brand new blue/yellow Zoom Structure Triax 13's that I have yet to wear.



Next is what it looks like when you open the bin. The two smaller bins, my hydration belt and handheld.



The bin on the left is the stuff I use on almost every run including my Garmin, shuffle, sunglasses and body glide. The bin on the right has stuff that I use less often.



Next is my summer clothes. Most of them are currently in the dryer but these are the clean ones.



Then separated by a piece of cardboard below the summer clothes is my winter running gear.



I like my new way of organizing my stuff. Now I just have to sort through all of my regular clothes so I can put things back where they belong!

MW

500 Miles

I officially hit 500 miles (like running from my house to Niagara Falls! Or from Springfield, IL to Oxford, MS!) for 2010 today during my run! It feels great! I will definitely hit my 600 mile goal and very soon! Most likely sometime in September.

2010 Stats
Distance: 500.0 Mi
Time: 91:57:18 (3 days, 19 hours)
Total Burned: 45,647 (kcal)
Total Workout Days: 122
Gas Saved: 27.78 gallons
Money Saved: $96.67
Carbon Offset: 537.8 lbs. of CO2

Not too shabby!

I returned my Brooks Ravenna today because I was still having slight pain in my knees when I was using them on the treadmill so I got another pair of Nike Zoom Structure Triax 13's in a different color than what I already have. I should just stick to what works!

I am planning to get into full swing with my training for my next half marathon. It's 9 weeks from today on October 17, one year to the day of my first 5k. It will be a pretty special day. I will get out of work at 4:30 everyday this week because my kids are on school break so I should eb able to get in some good speedwork and long runs.

I am feeling good about my running!

MW

100 Push-ups

Today I am starting a program to work my way up to 100 consecutive push-ups in 6 weeks. For the initial test, I did 20 consecutively. So today I started with this:
Set 1 - 10
Set 2 - 12
Set 3 - 7
Set 4 - 7
Set 5 - max you can (I did 12)
Resting at least a minute between sets, totaling 68 push-ups. I do the plan 3 times per week. We'll see how it goes!

I also downloaded Hal Higdon's Intermediate Half Marathon training plan that I will follow for the next 10 weeks to get ready for my next half!!

MW

What now?

So I finished my first half marathon. What now? Another half marathon with a faster time, obviously!

I will be signing up for the United Healthcare Half Marathon in Newport, RI on October 17. With the cooler temperature I should be able to run a quicker race and I look forward to it. For my birthday I got a gift certificate to my local running store and today I purchased a pair of Brooks Ravenna running shoes. I did a short treadmill run this evening and felt a slight pain in my left knee. I'm not sure if it's because I haven't run since Thursday or if it's the shoes. I will give them one more try and see how they feel. I like the look of them. I am also going to focus on doing some more strength training evercises for my knees and core to get stronger. I want to focus on my body's strength and the fuel that I put into my body. I want to focus on eating healthier things and especially making sure that I'm eating enough.

I am so proud that I finished this first half marathon but I want to have a better time in my next one. Realistically, I'd like to get under 2:30:xx for my next half. I'm not sure that I will follow a specific training plan but that's something I'll be looking into in the next couple of days. My next half is 10 weeks from today. I want to work on speed and I'd like to get my long run up to 15 miles at least.

One day at a time.

On another note, I am almost to 500 miles for the year. Looks like sometime in September, barring injury, I should surpass my goal of 600 miles for the year. I can't wait.

MW

Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon

Before the race started, I felt really good, was able to eat and drink like I'd planned. Feeling really good at the starting line, although just a bit nervous. I knew I'd trained well and that I had a lot to give. I was in the 2:15 pace group which I truly thought I'd be able to handle. Well, it was a bit humid and not quite as flat as I'd hoped!!

5k split - 33:00 -- excellent split for me, I always speed up at the end of my long runs. At mile 5 I went to use the first of my PowerBar Gel Burtst only to discover that they were all melted together so I wasn't going to be able to use any of them. That worried me. Between this milestone and the next, I got to catch a glimpse of Jess on the sideline and that really boosted my morale!

6 mile split - 1:08:37 -- still not bad although I was starting to feel fatigued. Stopped right after this to go to the bathroom and had to wait in a line 3 deep!



10 mile - 2:05:38 -- between miles 6 & 10 I slowly started to fall apart. I stopped 2x to use the bathroom and started feeling pretty faint around mile 7. They had misting machines around mile 7 so that helped me a bit and I continued to try to hydrate. At mile 10 I was really hitting a wall. The ended up having GU so I took some of that, as well as grabbed a cold sponge from a station and that helped greatly. Obviously at this point I realized that I was not going to get a time of 2:15 and I'd be lucky to make 2:30. I was worried that after the race I'd be really bummed out about my time.

Finish time: 2:49:46 for 13.36 miles (the two little bathroom breaks added on some distance!)



Post race: I actually felt really proud of myself and I forgot about my time pretty immediately. I was so thankful to have finished the race in one piece. I saw that out of 25,000 people, there were 18,555 finishers so that made me feel better about my accomplishment as well.

I can't wait to do another half. I will be doing my next one in October and I think I'll know more of what to expect. I know some people probably think that I had a horrible finishing time but for me it was a huge accomplishment and I am thrilled to have done it!

MW