Is this what being 30 feels like?

I posted a couple weeks ago about my fledgling jogging "hobby" (aka adventure in masochism). I have spent the last two weeks with a bag of peas always near my person, frequently on my right knee. My knee has felt unnatural and generally painful since the last time I ran, which was over two weeks ago. On Sunday, I head out to run a Superbowl 5K. This was in my initial training plan and I will admit that the wings offered at the end of the run provide some motivation. I hope my knee can keep up with the rest of me for 3 miles (or a little longer), since I am determined to run on Sunday. We are now just slightly over seven months from race day and I will be ready...

Lonely Runner

D. is out of town, so I did today's run on my own. I guess I should be proud that I actually got out there and did it without his encouragement, but I was a hot mess on the road and I think I did more damage than good.

Let's see: I don't understand how to work my stopwatch, I decided to take my Blackberry with me so I could call for help, if needed, but it's so heavy it kept pulling my pants down, stuff kept falling out of my pockets, I somehow tweaked my knee and I kept looking behind me to make sure I wasn't being followed by someone sinister. As you can imagine, most of my energy was focused on these items and my pace and running form suffered. I will be glad to have my running buddy back tomorrow (for more reasons that this)! For now, I sit here with a bag of frozen peas on my knee trying to be happy that I made it through another training day! I plunked the big bucks down last night and paid for the marathon, so there's no backing out now.

Hurts so good.

That title is a lie. There is nothing good about the hurt I am feeling. Today was our sixth day of running in the marathon training plan. Up to this point, the running has been pretty easy and I have felt like being "marathon-ready" was just a few steps away. Today, I would say that me completing a marathon is as likely as me being able to balance an elephant on my pinkie finger while running on a treadmill.

We are on a run:walk program that sounds deceptively easy. Each workout, you repeat the system until you get to thirty minutes. We started with a few days of running 1 minute and then walking 2 minutes, repeat. Then we switched to a couple days of 2 minutes run, 1 minute walk. Today was our first day of 3 minutes run, 1 minute walk, repeat. What a difference one minute makes.

They examine that concept in the movie, Sliding Doors, a personal favorite. In the movie, they follow Gwyneth Paltrow through two different lives and the difference between the lives is due to her being a minute late for her train one day. I won't ruin the movie for you, but let's just say the minute leads to her demise ultimately... Today one minute nearly led to my demise also! When we were about a mile and a half from home, I nearly laid down on the concrete and just quit. Now I remember why people groan when the subject of running comes up, it's really hard.

I mentioned to D. that in order to complete the marathon, we would have to repeat today's workout nine times...in a row...without dying. He mentioned that's it a good thing the marathon isn't tomorrow. That said, we are home, I haven't vomited (yet) and tomorrow is a scheduled rest day. For these things I am thankful.

Day #2 of 245 - Into the Snow

Okay, we didn't quite run in the snow, but it did snow earlier today so I think the title is appropriate. When we set out for our run, I added a warm hat to my running wardrobe since I knew it was colder than yesterday. That was confirmed as we could see our breath for the whole run. About halfway in, I was in no way warm and my arms (with a thin shirt covering them) felt as though pins were being stuck in them. I think I know a) what a tattoo feels like and b) what the beginning stage of hypothermia feels like. Perhaps a light jacket would have been a good idea. While that all sounds dramatic, I checked the temp when we got home and it was 25 degrees.

We did another 2.8 miles today (and took the dog for a quick walk after) and I'm feeling good about it. Tomorrow our schedule provides for a "Rest Day" and I sense my muscles will need it since they are a little tight now and not used to all this motion. We stopped into our local running store today and D. got fancy new shoes that are apparently going to make him a top athlete, so that will be nice. The guy that helped us (and there was only one guy and us in the store) was so nice. He gave us his personal email address and told us he'd help with anything including developing a plan that will get us ready for our run in September. That's one thing about runners, although elite runners exist (and I suspect this kid is one), they are not elitist. I think runners are excited when people want to take up this wacky sport that they love. People that want to run 26.2 miles are a rare breed and those that have already achieved that milestone seem to want to help everyone else get there. We probably visited with him for an hour and it was one of the best shopping experiences I've had in a long while. (Which is ironic since I didn't buy a darn thing.) Here's to the hope that I will be able to get out of this chair eventually since my hamstrings seem a little "tense."

Day #1 of 245 - Into the Wind

Over the Christmas break, my sister invited us to join her on a trip to Kauai in early September. It sounds relaxing until you hear that she will be running her first marathon while we are there and it looks like several members of my family will be joining in on the fun. My brother-in-law and my dad plan to run the half-marathon and D. and I plan to run something, but are still debating whether we could really be marathon ready in eight months. I have always wanted to run a marathon, but this may not be my time. The marathon falls on my sister's birthday which is a cool coincidence! At least there is plenty of beach and several tropical drinks if you reach the finish line.

Today we started the "conditioning plan" which takes a body that has run before and gets it into shape for steady training. We did a run:walk combo for thirty minutes and covered about 2.8 miles. D. does the run faster, but I am quite a power walker so we stayed fairly even. I think we would have hit 3 miles had it not been for the wind that blew in our faces for 50% of the run. All that said, it felt good to get out there and do something active. We have 244 days remaining, so we'll see how long the honeymoon period lasts. To get me in mental shape, I have been reading a hilarious book about a woman who probably had no business training for a marathon, but did. It's laugh out loud funny and is giving me a tip or two while making me laugh about what's to come. Here's the link for anyone woman who wants to laugh about running!

http://www.dawndais.com/The_Book.html