14 mile run

Well, today I officially ran the longest distance ever...14 miles. It was painful. It was hard. But it was an accomplishment. I did walk through steps (a few steps at a time I would walk and shake my legs out). Today I wondered how in the world I will be able to finish a marathon. That is a common thought. If you follow your plan, you run the marathon. I don't have to believe every second that I can do it. I will just continue to do my best training and let the natural flow happen.

Yesterday I saw two very cool PTs who helped me figure out what's wrong with my lower body and how to fix it. Lots of PT. Lots of stretching. Lots of "this is now part of your training, not rehab!". :) So what used to be a 30 run will now be about 50-60 minutes with warm up/stretch/cool down/stretch. If I want to run, I will do what they told me. If I don't, I won't be running much longer. Besides, why would I continue to want to feel like shit when I can feel better? I ask myself that question every time I put a Cheeto in my mouth. ;)

Ephianies on the run. I am crazy. Strong. Still crazy. One day 14 miles will seem easy. I just had to finish 14 to get there. Next week is 17. Not sure I am up to that. www.mapmyrun.com is a life saver. I can play around with distances all day!
Pain. oh yes. I reached a point today where I almost, sorta did cry. Mile 13. Tight quads. Aching arches. Hurting back. Why do I do this to myself? Oh yes. I like pain. I forget.

Anyway. there were no big ah-ha moments today. I do want to write a book someday about all of my adventures, though. :)

Race results and running report

Sombrero Ranch Trail Run race results are in. Coed. #141 out of 450 people. 55:32 minutes. 12:21 min/mile average. Not bad. Won't be trail racing for some time. Not until after the marathon....maybe not until after Ironman.

So tomorrow I should get up and go run. Hmmmm...will I? That is to be seen now, isn't it? Had Crossfit tonight. Eric went. It was fun to have him there.

A day off

Today was supposed to be a 14 mile run, but it was a zero mile run instead. Last night before bed I put stim on my right knee for a while, then on my right quad for about an hour. I woke up this morning and my knee was SOOOO tight and stiff , and it HURT. So I didn't run on it. I can make up the mileage later this week, if at all. But I didn't try to push myself to injury. That's a new one.

Feeling kind of emotionally under the weather. Change in seasons, tri season is over, trying to figure out how to get all the training in for marathon without killing my legs. I'm going in to my more introverted season. Things will get better I'm sure.

Anyway, that's it for now.

All things running (including my brain running away)

Been thinking a lot. About life. About training. About work. About family. About friends. About strengths and overcoming obstacles within my own mind.

Today I ran a 4.5 mile trail run with Heather in Estes Park. It was crazy. I thought I would run faster than I did, but I thought the hills were going to be easier than they were. Some of the hills were hard to WALK up. On a good day most of the hills would have been a nice hiking workout. I didn't want to walk, but I did, and while I was walking I told myself: "This, too,is exercise. You are at altitude, on a hill, with burning legs and burning lungs. This is working. You are getting stronger. This is changing you as a runner." Indeed I did do things I've never done. I picked a chick out and decided that I wanted to keep up with her, even if it hurt. During that time my only reason for being at the race was to teach myself to compete. To stay with the pack. To be competitive. I sped up when she sped up. She got ahead of me. I caught her. Eventually, on one of those hills, I past her. I beat her to the finish line. Maybe that would not have been the case if she had known we were racing. :) Maybe I had an unfair advantage with the knowledge I had. But that little exercise in competition strengthened me. I wanted to know what it felt like to compete and I got it. I want to do it again. Maybe I want to be competitive now. I read stories all the time about people going out there on the road, or in the water, or wherever and doing amazing things. Why not me?

I also ran fast today, when I could. I pushed myself. I didn't save energy for later. I used it when I had it, knowing I would get more when I needed it. Run up a small hill, knowing the downside would be recovery. I picked people off and beat them. I chased them down. They chased me down, too. I sprinted when before I would have only jogged. I passed people when before I would have been too afraid of being tired later. I sprinted the last quarter mile. It was all downhill...beautifully downhill. I ran and ran and ran. I wasn't going to stop. I saw the finish line...thank god, I thought. Breakfast. Coffee. Rest. It was a hard race but I got a lot out of it. :)

Half Marathon to Ice Bath

Today was Jess and I's "long run" of 13 miles. It was long, let me tell ya! I hurt really bad after mile 7 of any run..so today I hurt for some time. It was a good run, though. Times were a little slower than we thought it should be, but hey, we ran a freaking HALF MARATHON training run.....I need to give us more credit! :)

WE saw some homeless people on the trail, some shouted out things to us and others didn't, thankfully. We almost ran right into an old couple because we were tired and had a hard time stopping our legs when we needed to. They weren't mad, though. :)

I got mental. I started to wonder if I could truly take the pain of RUNNING a full marathon. WHY would I want to do a marathon??? It's too late to ask that question. I have to trust the training and my determination. I have to trust that when the time is right, my legs will be there to carry me. Oh, and I will be nutritionally prepared. Today was not quite one of those days, although we didn't do too bad with food.

Racing a half marathon is soooo much more exciting than training a half marathon. :) The people, the excitement, the TAPER you get the few days before. :)

As we ran back to her house, as we passed road signs, I took the first letter of the road and made a positive word out of it for us. G became GREAT! GREAT! GREAT!. H was HOORAY FOR US! I'm sure I was out of it by then.

After the run I went to the vet to get cat food, and stopped by the gas station and picked up 20 pounds of ice. Came home, ate, and took a bath in 20 pounds of ice water for 10 minutes.

Legs feel.....frozen. :)