I Ran Four Miles Tonight...

...and I have the scars to prove it!

Tonight was a four-mile night, which isn't that long considering I am going to attempt to run 26.2 miles at one time in September. That said, it's tough to jam the run in between work and darkness. I knew that I was going to be cutting it close since I really don't like to run in the dark by myself. I got through all but the last mile in pretty much daylight, but then darkness settled in and I started to freak out.

To add insult to injury, I decided to wear my prescription sunglasses on the run. It wasn't the best logic, but I generally think that if people saw my eyes as I ran, they would see that with each step I wince a little and I don't need their pity. Sunglasses have one main purpose: to block light. Sadly, they did a bang up job of this tonight and I was nearly blind for the last mile. I even took off the glasses for a while to see if my horrible vision was better than total darkness.

Also in the last mile, I started to chafe really badly in my under arm area (code name: armpit). I tried to adjust my shirt and sports bra to mitigate the damage and realized that I was actually being gradually stabbed by a renegade bra underwire. Here's the thing, I love my bra. I generally sleep in it and I run in it too (despite wearing a sports bra). The underwire made a break for it during the run (I don't blame it) and my skin blocked its escape. I bet I am the only person who has ever removed the underwire from their bra while running... I also wanted to be "special" and now I am.

So, I have a hole/bruise/scratch from where my bra attacked me during my run in the dark. I think that is grandly ironic since I was so concerned about injury due to attack by a mad man while I ran in the dark. Turns out bras are far more dangerous!

Mix It Up

We started running about six weeks ago and while I have seen a steady progression in our distance and endurance (we did 5 miles today), I haven't seen any progression in my "running mix." About a year ago, I put together a 50 minute mix of mostly hip-hop/pop to listen to on the Ipod while I workout (pre-workouts, I did my calculus homework to this mix, both are similarly excruciating.) I've now listened to that mix for the past six weeks, about three times a week. While Kanye's "Stronger" still gets me through the last few minutes of the workout, I need to make a change on the rest of the mix. Although I have admittedly horrible taste in music (usually a large contribution comes from Top40), music really inspires me. For example, if I hear Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" in the morning, I face the day with greater strength and optimism.

Playing on my mind these days is the importance of a marathon day mix. Besides training my body to run 26 miles at one time, I need to spend the next 6.5 months fine-tuning the mix that will carry me through the race in September. I think I will likely find an hour-ish long mix that I can repeat many, many times until I drag my tired body across the finish line. [How long does an Ipod keeps its charge?] In the last week, I pulled some CDs out from high school/college to see what I might add to the mix. I rediscovered Cake's Fashion Nugget album and Everclear's "So Much for the Afterglow" and know that I have some potential contributors.

So, here's the question: If you had to run 26.2 miles, what song would get you through mile 26?

We won!

Tonight the North Carolina Tarheels played Duke and beat them handily. It was awesome. Here I sit in my #50 UNC Jersey and I am so happy. Daniel and I continued a tradition that I started years ago in Phoenix... We drink a 40 of malt liquor (Mickey's is our pick) as we watch the first Carolina - Duke game of the season...out of a brown bag. As I bought the Mickeys' today, the clerk at Walgreen's said, "Mickey's, huh? You don't strike me as a Mickey's drinker." My mom asked if our future potential children would drink their juice out of brown bags if Carolina and Duke were playing... I said, "Of course."

D. doesn't really swear much, I swear enough for the both of us on a regular day. That said, I think he stores most of his annual swears up for the Carolina - Duke game. The dog is hiding in another room because of all the yelling tonight.

The Carolina - Duke game (especially when the good guys win) is like a holiday to me, probably equivalent to Christmas. Go Heels!

I Love Jesus, but I Drink a Little

This video is a little long, but well worth watching... It made my week. (p.s. I don't know how to post youtube videos on here, but the link is below.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83JDXXKzOXg

It's all in my head...

Today's run had me going 3.5 miles. That's not too long, but not as short as the "easy" 2.5 mile run on Mondays. I have really struggled since the knee injury with my pace. Since the 5k, it just seems like I am destined to be at an 11 minute mile during the training runs. That doesn't bode well since I am not running very far right now and as you add distance, you generally lose speed. At this rate, I might as well walk the marathon in September! Anywho, I really wanted to push myself today and since my body has been feeling pretty good post-acquisition of the knee brace, I went for it.

I was holding pretty close to a ten minute mile pace for the first mile and a half and then started to slow down on the second half of the run. I knew that finishing in 35 minutes was quickly slipping out of my grasp, so I promised I would really push it for the last mile. Somewhere about a half mile from the house, I could actually see the house and I started playing mind games. I was really tired and starting to wheeze a little. I started to think, "Who would be hurt if I just walked the last half mile." At that moment, I was reminded of what Daniel has said, "So much of this is mental." I realized that I am mostly fighting against my mind and not my body at this stage of training. My mind is a lot lazier than my physical body. My body could definitely finish up strong, but my mind was trying to quit.

In the end, I told my mind to shut up and pushed myself to finish in 36:01, that's about a 10:17 mile. I know that over the next couple months, fighting my mind will be the biggest battle. I am pretty healthy, so my body can make it to the April half-marathon. It's messages like that I need to keep repeating instead of "I can't."

Four Miles and a Leg Brace

We have reached the official start of our training. The first month was really about conditioning and getting our bodies used to running several times a week. Today, we started adding mileage, which (in theory) will allow us to run 26.1 miles seven months from now. We went up to four miles today and although it was a little rough (read headwind and horrible cramp), we made it through and I guess I feel encouraged by that. Last week, after the 5k, I would have told you that 3.1 miles was my max. Yet, here I am today at 4! I also bought a knee brace today and it made a huge difference during the run, so maybe I won't need to carry a bag of peas with me everywhere I go after all!

I can't wait to be 30.

Today we ran a 5k. I have been out of commission for the last two weeks since I really jacked up my knee with a run a few weeks ago. The 5k was my first run back and I started out feeling great and the first mile was really no big deal. Sadly, I still had a couple to go and my knee started acting up. It was a tough run, but I finished in 35:36. That isn't exactly lighting the world on fire, but I had to walk a lot of it. D. finished in 29:42, my dad finished in 39:02 and mom was somewhere around 44. My mom actually would have placed 2nd in her age group and gotten a prize, but she didn't wear a timing chip. I am sadly at the top end of my age bracket these days... Today I ran against 20 year olds and while I recently complained about moving to the 30-39 bracket this year, I realized that in race terms it isn't a bad thing to be the youngin' in the age bracket. There's one positive to turning the big 3-0 this year. Regardless, it was a good way to start out our Superbowl Sunday and it brings back my motivation to get back on the training route, even though my knee may not cooperate! I plan to have a bag of peas at hand at all times for the next seven months and run like my life depends on it!