I'm running a freaking marathon....again!

Lots of exciting running developments over the past week.  Let me start by announcing that I am running another freaking marathon!  No, not New York.  I didn't get in to New York and I am far too lazy to get a bib via fundraising (anyway, I am saving all of my fundraising mojo from this point forward for another event).  So after much contemplation--by which I mean a whole evening of thinking and sleeping on it before registering--I decided to do the Philadelphia Marathon.  Why?  Here are a few reasons:

• It's in November, so the weather should be pleasant
• It is mostly flat
• I've heard good things about it from others
• The course is awesome, as I know from running some of it last summer.  Yay scenic courses!
• When I was driving into work the morning that I did not qualify for the NY Marathon, I heard Elton John's 'Philadelphia Freedom.'  Obviously, it is very easy to substitute the lyrics, 'Philadelphia Marathon.'  So I mostly have Elton John to thank for this.
• Most importantly, there were still spots open

And that is that!  It is November 18, so the weekend before Thanksgiving.  To celebrate, I have officially ordered my first carton of caffeinated sport beans.

I'm not quite on schedule for the half-marathon, although some of it is by choice.  Last week, for instance, I decided to pool run one of the 5-milers because it's hot out and I haven't been totally keeping up with the plan, so I didn't want to injury myself.  Yesterday, I was supposed to do the 10-mile run, but I just completely was not feeling it.  Lousy reason, maybe.  But I am doing it later today, so it's not a total loss.  After talking to someone yesterday about the myriad of advantages to running later instead of earlier at this time of year, I had even convinced myself that this was the better way to go.

Owning last, only to learn that I am not actually last

I did the River'n'Rapids 10k last weekend.  That's the race where it was at 9am, in April, in Florida.  So in other words, the race that I really wasn't all that excited about.  Considering the numerous reasons that this race could have caused me to hate life, surprisingly I did not hate life at the end of it.  In fact, it was relatively pleasant...bearing in mind that it was April and 9am.

The race took place in Hillsborough State Park, which was insanely scenic and lovely.  I felt silly that I had never been, despite the fact that it is just up the road from me.  It is definitely worth a visit if you get the chance.  Trail running was interesting because I had to spend a lot of time thinking about tree roots.  This was my first official trail race and it was very easy to see how things could go wrong if you weren't careful with footing.  Fortunately, for me, nothing went wrong.

Going into the race, I knew that it was possible I would be last.  How?  Because:

1) It was the inaugural race for this event.  This means that mostly hardcore runners would be signed up for it.  Us slower people would maybe not be signed up as much.

2) There were around 100 people.  The likelihood of my being last in this situation seemed pretty good.

And for much of the race, as I was on my own in the woods, I assumed I was last.  And I said, 'Yes.  That's right.  I'm last.  Because dammit, someone has to be last.  And today, that person is me.  I've survived it before and I will survive it again...provided, of course, that I survive the heat.'  Honestly, I was pretty okay with the whole thing.  You can imagine my dismay to learn that I wasn't actually last, after all of these great pep talks I gave myself en route.  There may even have been a few chants of, 'If you're not first, you're last.'  Thanks, Ricky Bobby.

I did have to walk/run after a while, but that doesn't surprise me (incidentally, the group I started with had camelbaks.  Camelbaks.  These are serious people).  The weather is starting to get tricky and I also suspect that in the forest itself, the humidity is higher (the weather report said in the 70% range, but I don't believe that).

I just looked at the race results, confirming that, indeed, I was not last.  And you know what else?  There were 13 people who didn't show up.  So hey, at least I got out of bed and to the race.  Victory!

It has begun

Wow, I didn't even realize how negligent I've been with this blog recently.  It isn't because I haven't been running.  I've been running.  Kind of.  Not as much as I might like, but still keeping a semi-regular schedule.

So what has begun?  Summer.  *shudder*  Yes, in April.  How can I tell?  The temperature today was 90F.  Here in Tampa, in the summer, the temperature gets to 90F pretty much every day in the summer.  If it gets over 90, we consider it to be super hot (this is just the actual temperature.  The Real Feel temperatures are more in the 100-120 range).  Now the humidity today was not summer-level.  The heating was not as evil as in the summer.  But it was still pretty warm.

I really wish that my brain had conveniently forgotten that temperatures are taken in the shade and therefore it was closer to 100F in the sun.  Boo brain.  I remembered this a few steps into my run.

More and more, I am regretting my decision to sign up for a run in April (much less another run in April, then one in May).  But the upcoming one is the one that I am currently regretting the most.  It's the River N Rapids 10k, a trail run, which makes it my first trail run.  I have no idea what trail runs are like.  It's in a state park in an area that should really be swamp.  Whoo!  Lastly, it starts at 9am.  Why I thought that I would want to run something starting at 9am in April is beyond me.  Possibly this occurred back when I was sick and running a fever.

As I was feeling very hot today on my run, I had a brief moment where I realized that I did not need to do this run simply because I signed up for it.  Bold.  Crazy thoughts here.  But I don't want to quit on it.  So I will do it but will plan for walk/running.  If it isn't so bad, I can just run.  If it is, then I have a strategy.  This makes me feel better about the event.  Now I can worry about being eaten by an alligator.

The Final Half-Marathon...in this series at least...

All things considered, I got through my training plan pretty well.  No, I didn't complete all of the runs, but I've started to accept that this is okay.  I did what I needed to be in shape for the race.  Unfortunately, I didn't quite make my goal, but the weather was a problem, which is simply one of the hazards of running at this point in the year around these parts.

What was cool is that I pretty much maintained exactly my goal pace for the first 10 miles.  Then it got hot.  With no shade.  Boo.  Many of us complained about the conditions at the end of the race, so I don't feel like it was only me--including some Half-Fanatic people (I didn't wear my shirt, but probably should have).  These things happen.  I was happy that I stayed on track for most of the race.  Plus I got through the whole series!

There is one more on the agenda: a half-marathon in Niagara Falls in June.  I really hope that the weather holds for it!  I'll be revisiting the same training plan as the last time, although I am taking a bit of time off in between.

The most exciting development in my running life is the fact that I got in to the Beach to Beacon 10k, which takes place in Maine on August 4.  The race filled up within 5 minutes of registration opening, so that feels like an accomplishment just getting in.  I truly hope that this will be the 10k race where I finally do well!  This is my most frustrating distance.  I'm sure you'll hear all about it in the coming weeks.

Being all hard-core runner

After falling during your run, walk past a young girl.  She looks at your knee and says, 'You're bleeding!'  You answer, 'Oh yeah, I know' and walk off nonchalantly.

Bonus points: be wearing your Half Fanatics singlet at the time.

PS - If you're curious, running has mostly been going well, apart from a slight cold that I had last weekend.  More updates to come soon.

The mental game

It might seem like running is primarily a physical activity, and I guess if all you wanted to do was go out and run, it would be.  But when you add in racing or improving or anything like that, the mental component becomes much more important.  It can be hard to keep going when you're in the middle of a race, or you're not feeling great, or you don't feel like running any more.  But part of succeeding in this sport is finding a way to get beyond that.

I think that one of the problems that I have been experiencing over the past little while (apart from the physical ailments) is the idea that I keep repeating the same training plan over and over with no end in sight.  This is probably because that is essentially what I have been doing since around last June (!).  I did change the actual plans but the principles remained the same for each.

A few days ago, I realized that actually, I was embarking on the last six weeks of my half-marathon plans (I'm lying to myself, of course, because I am doing another one in June, but sometimes mental toughness develops from lying to yourself).  Acknowledging that there is an end point has been very encouraging.  Today, for instance, I also realized that I am 25% of my way through this plan.  A quarter!  While this means that there is still 75% to go (less encouraging), it is a good way of getting myself to go out and run.  I'm doing fine with this plan so far.  I can keep it up for another 4.5 weeks.

I tried skipping again yesterday.  It's still hard.

I can haz speedwork

Something important that I discovered between Sunday and today: the distance that I ran for my speedwork on Sunday was about twice as long as I was supposed to go.  Hence why it was hard to run at 90% of my energy level.  Today, I ran the right distance.  And it was awesome.  And I owned every interval.  And I love speedwork.  These are not words that you hear too often from a slow and steady runner.

Apart from the Speedwork of Awesome, I also ran three miles.  It was just fine.  Maybe a bit humid out, because I'm somewhat sweaty, but on a scale of 1-10, I think it gets around a 7.  Also, I got out and ran, which was an achievement.  I meant to go this morning, but for reasons unknown to me, I woke up last night at 3am and didn't get back to sleep for a long time.  Today I even went in the dark and everything.  Yay!

Could it be that I am gradually shaking off my running funk?  Because that would be almost as awesome as speedwork.