A Trotful Turkey Day

I know it's the day after Thanksgiving...but I was pretty busy yesterday so I didn't have time to post!  My day started out with the 22nd Annual Turkey Trot, which was just a 'fun run' so there was no official chip timing or anything.  I did try to keep my time on my watch and I think I ended up with a time not far off from my best Maitland 5k time of 38:30!  Considering the fact that there were over 5,600 runners in this race and most of them definitely did not line up according to pace times as they should've (argh!!), and that the run was through the narrow and uneven brick streets of old-downtown Orlando with cars parked on each side of the street randomly (fun little obstacles to try and get around) and that people were running with strollers and dogs on long leashes just looking to trip runners, I think I did pretty good!  I was actually pretty surprised that I made it in the time that I did, I was fully expecting to be slower than that, especially given how my last run went on Tuesday.

Tuesday, Rob decided to run with me.  I think I've decided that I'm not a fan of Rob running with me because I tend to want to talk to him rather than just kind of tuning out and running.  The run was a struggle for me, and I ended up shortening it to just 2.5 miles instead of 3 since it was getting dark and I didn't bring any reflective gear or a head lamp for light.  I was disappointed with the performance, but just figured that I at least got out there and did something instead of finding yet another excuse to stay home. 

On Wednesday, I was supposed to do a 2 mile run but I didn't end up getting the chance.  I was baking pies for Thanksgiving yesterday and I just never had the window to get out there and run.  All of this being taken into account, I think I did pretty well on my run yesterday after all!  If nothing else, at least I did it.  My next race to look forward to is the Reindeer Run on December 10th.  I think it's going to be another 'fun run' so it won't be a big event, but it will still be good exercise and should be a lot of fun!  I think I'm going to wear my reindeer antlers!  Yesterday, there were so many people in costume!  Tons of people wore turkey hats or feather headdresses, some dressed up as turkeys and one chick (who I used as a pacer) dressed up as a piece of pumpkin pie, complete with a whip cream hat strapped to her head!  It was hilarious!  I'm not sure if I'll do next year's Turkey Trot since it was a huge mess with that many people and parking would've been a disaster if my parent's hadn't come to watch my brother and I and dropped us at the start, but it was pretty fun and definitely a beautiful morning to run!

Back to the Beginning

I've found that it's no so easy to just get back into the habit of running once you've managed to get out of it.  This is evidenced by the fact that I have been giving into every little excuse I come across not to run.  Take today, for instance.  I was planning on starting my half-marathon training today using Hal Higdon's novice guide.  Despite the fact that his schedule starts on a Tuesday, I was going to start today and just shift everything else up.  Normally, I prefer to have my long runs on Saturday mornings to get them over and done with for the weekend whereas his schedule calls for long runs on Sundays instead.  Sticking to the normal schedule Mr. Higdon outlines, however, I was supposed to "Stretch and Strengthen" today, but I ended up not doing much of either (read: any of either).  I don't even know why this is, it's not like I was doing anything more important in place of this.  I was wasting time, for the most part, so I don't even have any decent reasoning to stand behind.

Alas, it's time to regroup, let myself off the hook and take the attitude that tomorrow is a new day!  I will start my training tomorrow with a 3 mile run followed by some ab exercises.  While, in my off time, I thankfully haven't gained weight back, I have noticed my mid-section become a little softer again, which is disappointing to me and serves as a gentle reminder that I need to get back out there and get my butt going!

I've also been thinking about my running future beyond the half marathon.  I'm starting to wonder if it indeed will be an every other day type of thing as I had hoped it would when I began this quest.  I'd like to think so and it is certainly an optimistic outlook, realistically though I have to wonder if I have the staying power.  This goes especially for the summertime.  Will I really go out and run when it's like a steam room outside with levels of outlandish humidity that can suffocate a person??  I have to tell myself that I will run, even occasionally, because I don't want to think that I'm doing this for nothing.  I've always wanted this to be a healthy lifelong habit to get into, so I must tell myself that this will stick, even through the tricky summer months when there are few races to keep me going.  It's definitely been a great self-esteem booster, helping me to realize that I am capable.  It sounds so simple, and it really is, but it's also very true.  Running even for just 3 out of the last 4 months has helped me to feel better about myself because I'm doing something: something for myself and my body and just that one simple little thing a few times a week has really helped me see myself differently!            

TO DO: 3 mile run tomorrow!!

TO DO #2: Add new music to iPod Running mix

ON THE HORIZON: 22nd Annual Turkey Trot on Thursday with my brother, so excited!

Press Reset / 15K Race Review

Okay, okay, it was more than a week off...I know.  Though I think this is a perfectly good reason (no, not "excuse", per se...), I ended up taking about 3 weeks off to study for and take (and ACE!) the GRE.  I'm totally aware that I could've very easily run in the morning before going to work and studied in the evenings, but, it's all in the past now anyway, so why bother rehashing it, eh?

So this is how the last 3 weeks went, after my Boston trip: Week 1: study, work, relax. Week 2: Halloween, study, work, take GRE, celebrate by going to Naples for a few days on vacation with Rob (where I went to the gym and lifted weights, thankyouverymuch!). Week 3: Give myself the "reward" after the GRE was over of not doing much, besides work, of course.  Oh yeah, and freak out when coming to the realization that the 15K was, in fact, the weekend of  11/13 and not this coming weekend (as I previously thought).

Week 3 was a tough week for me, mostly because of all the fretting.  I'm a fretter.  I fret.  I was so freaked out that the 15K was at the end of the week that I went back and forth between wanting to run to get back out there so I wouldn't be totally green come race day and being infinitely scared to even try.  I was really worried that I would get back out there and I would be so far behind what I had previously achieved that it would be discouraging for me.  So, I would find little rationalizations for not going running.  Finally, after a little bit of attitude and judgment from Rob and a whole lot of fretting, I forced myself to go out and run the Friday before my race.  I kept it simple, I didn't want to overwhelm myself with the mileage or beat my body up before the race.  I went to my favorite back loop near my house and ran about 2.5 miles.  The run was really amazing: the weather had just turned crisp and daylight savings had come and gone so the sun was now deeper in the sky than usual during my evening runs and, well, it just completely reaffirmed my ability to run.  I didn't keep track of time, I didn't really care.  I just wanted to be happy with the run and not come away from it dejected or disappointed because I didn't meet some goal.

Our approach to the race, met with hot air balloons!

 And...onto the 15K rundown!  The race was held in Celebration, FL in honor of the founding of the Florida Hospital within the community.  From what I've heard, the neighborhood was built by Disney to showcase a picture-perfect community, almost everything is perfect within it and everyone has to abide by the strict HOA rules and regulations (lest Old Man Mouse get upset!).  These include things like what shapes your hedges may be made into, what type of furniture is allowed on your front porch (they prefer painted rocking chairs with a small side table, but will accept some other matching sets).  You get my drift.  Very Mickey Mouslandish...notice how that's only one letter away from M-outlandish!?  Yes, yes indeed.

Not a leaf askew

Anyway, so the race! (We'll get there eventually, don't worry.) As we were driving up around 7am, the hot air balloons were just beginning to make their descent into the area.  (Since Celebration is near Disney, the hot air balloonists take their clients up near Disney to get even the slightest glimpse of the parks, if the wind is just right.)  The balloonists are at the mercy of the winds though, so they could end up anywhere in the area and, as it happened, it was Celebration on Sunday! So pretty with the waning full moon still out!  I know it sounds weird, but I took the hot air balloons as a sign of comfort going into the race.  They're these serene and brilliant objects just peacefully floating through the air, and that was exactly what I needed to take my mind off the task ahead!

Going into the race, I already knew that I wouldn't have any goals for it other than to just finish and take hold of that sweet, sweet medal!  I thought the 10K went really well actually, much better than I figured it might since I had taken so much time off.  Since this was through Celebration, the neighborhood was absolutely beautiful to run through.  Very Disney-utopia!  There were several people either sitting on their front porches or standing just outside their front doors watching the runners and wishing them well, which was a great boost throughout the race!  At around mile 4.5, a particularly humorous family stood outside with  a set of speakers blaring the "Rocky" theme.  As I passed, I threw both of my fists into the air AND did the full spin around, like he does in the movie at the top of the steps!  The family all cheered and said I was the first one to do the spin so far.  I laughed most of the way through the rest of mile 4 and into mile 5 (those were definitely my golden miles, where I felt my best and happiest!).

I'm in there somewhere...

The good thing about this race, I found, was that it was split into 2 distinct segments.  I knew that once I got done with the 10K, I would have a little break to refuel and rehydrate before starting the 5K.  It was also really nice to know, when I passed the mile 5 marker, that I only had 1 mile left before the finish line and break!  That thought kept me going happily onward!

I finished the 10K and grabbed a banana, a water and my GU gel to help carry me through the 5K still to come.  My friend Paula ran the 10K with me (though she's super fast, so she was WAY ahead of me) and she said she was absolutely exhausted at the end and not feeling very well.  I took heart at this since I actually felt pretty good still.  Her revelation was pretty helpful though, because it reminded me to stretch relatively well between races so I wouldn't cramp up.  Another friend ran with me on the 5K, which was actually kind of nice because it meant I wasn't alone.  It's not that I would've had a problem being alone, I do it all the time, but on this particular day, it was nice knowing that there was a friendly face running with me.  (That makes it sound like the runners are usually not-so-friendly, which is absolutely not true.  Oh well...)

Finishing the 10K

 It was a good thing that the 5K was at the end and not the beginning because I don't know that I would've made it through the race otherwise.  That last race was definitely a weird one for me, an odd mixture of emotion for the accomplishment I was performing and an incredible desire to find a short cut to the finish line and just BE DONE ALREADY!  I didn't run a whole lot of the 5K, maybe the first mile and then I did the combo run/walk thing with more walking than running.  By the time I neared the finish line, others were walking back toward me with medals around their necks cheering on others, like me, doing the "Distance Dare" of both races.  It was a really sweet moment for me to see these two ladies pointing to their medals, then pointing to the finish line and yelling all sorts of positive things, "You can do it!  You're almost there!  Great job!"  I realized that my very first race medal was close-at-hand and all of these emotions came up again and I was grinning like a crazy lady through the last 1/8 mile.  As soon as I crossed the finish line, one of the volunteers handed me my medal and I put it on so fast I didn't even realize that it was backwards until my friend told me!

Being silly at the start of the 5K with my friend

It was also as soon as I crossed the finish line and strung that medal around my neck that I realized how utterly exhausted I was and realized just how FAR away the car was from the race area.  I said a quick goodbye to my friend, grabbed another banana, another bottle of water and headed to the car.  I swear the car had to be about 1/4 mile from the race area at least, I'm not exaggerating!  And 1/4 mile, on top of the 9.3 I had already run, just seemed to break me completely.  By the time I got to my car, my body felt broken and I had a massive headache.  When I touched my brow, I found it caked with salt crystals.  I'm guessing that I was dehydrated, but I'll need to do some research on this so I can avoid this disaster come the half in February!  On my way home, I couldn't decide whether I should just go straight home or stop by my parents' house (which was on the way) to show them the medal and rest up a little more.  Ultimately, I decided to go to their house and I'm glad I did!  I didn't realize how horrible I really felt until I got there.  Lucky for me, my mom's awesome and she practically forced me to eat the fresh pear she fixed for me and some warm beef and vegetable stew she made.  I tell you, I hope one day I'm as good a mom as she is because I felt like a million bucks when I left their house!  My headache was easing and I just felt tired from having run the 9.3 but, man!  I felt SO much better!  Thanks Mom!!!! 

And, no, I never took a picture of the medal (but I did wear it to work the next day!).  Maybe next post I can get that up there along with the official times (again, not that I really care what they were) and some of the professional pics if there are any good ones!

Ha!  I took a picture of it with my cellphone for Facebook!  Yes!

I dared to go the distance...