Humble Pie Motivation

Today's just been one of those days. A little humbling. A little motivating. Three distinct moments...

Pie Slice #1
Location: The Floor Scale
Time: 4:17 a.m.
Situation: Yikes! rhymes with bikes... which apparently I haven't been on lately.

Pie Slice #2
Location: Columbia Marathon Facebook Post
Time: 12:42 p.m.
Situation: Posted a 2012 Marathon Finishing Time Chart (below)... I finished last year with a 5:33:46

 

 

Pie Slice #3

Location: The Elliptical

Time: 7:54 p.m.

Situation: Not enough time to run today since I need to study for finals. Compromised... 35 min on the elliptical = 102 calories burned = about 10 of the M&M's I had directly beforehand.

 

And all of a sudden it's like Gunnery Sergeant Hartman...YouTube it if you don't know...has jumped into my head and is reminding me...subtly, hehe... what motivation looks like. I'm up for a challenge.

I Did It For The Cookies

Three hours of sleep last night... think I'm running a fever... haven't eaten since noon... training log reads: RUN COMPLETE! Why, for the love of running? Don't kid yourself. Today was for the cookies. Pure love of cookies. ~Off to RICE the knee and take some Aleve. Get pumped... four miles Thursday *smile*

Run Like the Wind?? ehh

I ran past someone yesterday on my first long run this training cycle - 5 miles. And I heard them say something to their companion about "jogging". Lets clear something up right now... I don't "jog". I run. I run like... a gentle breeze.

Treadmills & Rocket Tots

I just spent the past 30 minutes or so staring at a "Pay Your Rent From Anywhere" sign. Time and miles seem to tick by so slowly on a treadmill. Don't get me wrong... they have a place in the world. When I started running about 4 years ago it was all thanks to a treadmill. But then I ran outside and I realized that having to actually propel your own body weight forward instead of just picking up your feet to make sure you don't roll backwards into the wall behind you was a different action. Another positive to the treadmill... in a bout of insomnia I wouldn't have made the decision to run at 3:30am without the possibility of doing it on a treadmill...inside a locked building.

I started my run a little slow today... lets face it IPA and Rocket Tots (pretty good little taters with cheese and jalapenos inside) are not proper hydration, although very tasty. Another benefit to the treadmill, I got to do a progression run which doesn't happen often since I haven't yet mastered the act of pacing myself for any amount of time. The run felt pretty good, found my legs at the start of mile 2 and since I didn't have to worry about what my legs were doing I got to spend some time convincing my heart and lungs that this was just a walk in the park, no need to get excited.

Note to management: please adjust the air... it does not need to be 78 degrees in the gym room!
Note to Luey cat: please stop bitting my legs and arms while I'm trying to stretch. There's nothing like trying to 'hold your pose' with teeth dug into you.

Tomorrow's cross training day, which I'm pretty sure is going to equal eating plenty of Thanksgiving dinner, napping, and watching the Jets beat the Patriots.

....But It's Pint Night

Well it's official...today I ran my first 3 miles out of the 333 training miles it's going to take me to get to my third marathon... so add an additional 26.2 to that number. Despite my many good reasons not to... the eye doctor dialated my eyes, I was hungry, I forgot my hair tie, it's too cold...or wait is it too hot, it's too dark, Jersey Mike's has good buffalo wraps, I don't have my inhaler, I'll have to shower tonight, there could be crazy people out, the day ends in a "y", IT'S PINT NIGHT!! I ended up taking those frustrating steps forward and made it the full 3. I'll admit, it wasn't my pretties run...went out too fast, form went off and my knee is a little tight but I've decided the next couple weeks I'm not going to worry about time, just getting back to the act of doing for now.

Lewis Carroll once said "Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop" and that's what I plan to do this time. I've never actually trained for a marathon in the whole 16 weeks they recommend...I usually do it in about 8-10 weeks cramming in every long run I can. But this time I've thought, why not try this crazy 16 weeks they talk about. Knee might feel better. Unlike the last time I ran this marathon. Which marathon you ask... the Columbia Marathon. Through the streets of Columbia, full of hills and last year hurt my knee so bad the last several miles I had to go down hills backwards. But not this time, no sir... as my celebratory Magic Hat #9 cap says today..."Write your own future". (Don't worry, there's more corny quotes to come).

So stay tuned because as I am also primarily training for this marathon for the first time without the motivation of one of my best friends who recently moved and used to be the encouragment I needed to keep my whinny butt moving forward (it won't be the same without you Amanda) I've decided to start my first blog. Lucky you haha.