Humble Pie

Yesterday was my "total body weight" day on my new plan.  It felt so good to have a plan and prioritize some time for myself!

I was in a good workout groove and really enjoying the sweat from lifting, when a man came up to me and said, "Excuse me Ma'am.  Are you done with the assisted squat rack?"

Ma'am?

Either I need to crank up my workouts big time or I need to burn this outfit...I'll probably be doing both.

Then, Ben took this picture at the end of my workout.

Not really the pretty "I just rocked my workout" picture I had in my head.

Welcome to a Sweaty Life; it's not pretty or perfect, but we still try to work hard every day.

Motivation

I've spent many a days in my running clothes, waiting for a "free" moment to get a workout in.  I rush everything and everyone and my attitude stinks.  When I finally get to that fleeting moment, I find that I have no motivation and I instantly feel defeated that I can't get the workout I wanted.

I need a plan. 

And probably some accountability.

I've learned one big thing the past few months: if I don't make myself a priority first, then I will always come last.  Sounds selfish, right?  Same is true of God.  If I don't make time with God a priority first, my day will always end with, "Oh yea, I was going to read my Bible this morning..." 

Give me a little coffee and a whole lot of Jesus.

This is what gets me up at 5:00 am.

My plan consists of getting up before everyone in the house and having a quiet time and working out before Ben leaves for work.  This way, I get "me time" before anyone else needs my time and nothing can thwart my plan...mwah ha ha!

Monday: Run 3 miles, strength train arms and abs with TRX

Tuesday: Run 4 miles

Wednesday: Weight train total body

Thursday: Run 4 miles

Friday: Run 3 miles, strength train legs and abs with TRX

Saturday: Run 6 miles...hopefully with Ben on the trail

This will be my baseline and anything active during the day on top of this will be devoted to my family (bike rides or trail walks or playing at the park).

Day 1 of my plan, I woke up and thought, "The true test of my plan will come when it's raining.  Am I tough enough to run in the dark and the rain?"  Ironically, I stepped outside and it was raining.  Of course.  I was already wide awake and dressed and it was too late to go back to bed, so I ran.  It felt good to get it done and my attitude for the rest of the day was definitely lifted.  I'm really hoping I can stay on my plan...now who's going to keep me accountable?

Week in Review

I'm in the midst of training for the Harbor Lights Half Marathon on November 22 and this week was good progress. I got my first good long run in and I was able to do some speed work through the 5k race.  The two 'rest' days were a trip to DC with the family. It wasn't much of a rest though. Both days I logged over 10,000 steps and a lot of those were carrying a 3 year old. 

Fun walking over 5 miles on a 'rest' day.

Monday - 10 miles at 7:56 pace
Tuesday - 3 miles at 9:12 pace, weights for 45 minutes
Wednesday - 5 miles at 8:19 pace
Thursday - 3.12 miles at 6:20 pace (this was a race)
Friday - 6.24 miles at 8:27 pace
Saturday - Rest day
Sunday - Rest day

Total miles: 27.36

This is from my usual work running route. There is about a mile through the woods and right now it is very pretty!

Good news! I saw a turtle today on my run! (if you don't get it)

There's a fallen log across my usual work running route. Now I have an obstacle to jump over

!

Up next is another long run, this time 12 miles. I also have my bi-annaul fitness test with the Navy. I have to run 1.5 miles as fast as possible. Should be a good week!

Race Report - Wounded Warrior 5k

I was hoping to post this report with a nice photo or two. The event organizers of this 5k took photos and assured me that they would post them on their FB page. However, the way the race was organized....I'm not holding my breath. 

This race was not for the Wounded Warrior Project (which you should research before giving money to), but for  Wounded Warrior Safe Harbor.

With that out of the way here's the report: The weather was off-and-on misting and it was about 70 degrees. The race had quite a lot of goodies; t-shirt, finisher medal, dog-tag with the wounded warrior logo on it and lots of snacks and drinks. Very impressive for a tiny 5k! They even had signs telling you where to line up based on your predicted finish time. 

I was feeling tired because I had run 18 miles in the previous three days, but I optimistically lined up with the under 20:00 crowd. There start line was not really defined,  which I found strange, it was just 'under' an inflatable rainbow-thingy with no real 'line'. They started us off and there was even a truck with a timer on it ahead of us so we could see the official time the whole race. I ran out with the lead group (about 8 of us) and knew I was in trouble. I was fairly certain my legs were made of lead and, though the course was completely flat, I wasn't going to be able to keep up with the top guys. My first mile I clocked a blazing 5:59 and promptly started to decline. 

At the 1.5 mile mark I found myself in 'no-mans-land'. There were 8 guys in front of me with the closest about 80 feet away and the nearest guy behind me was about 100 feet away. This stunk. I was already feeling like I was dying and now I was going to die alone. 

Slowing considerably I pressed on towards the end of my pain, or my life, whichever came first. I as rounded a corner into the last 400 yards I heard a guy trying to push past me. I chanced a brief look and saw it was a guy pushing a jogging stroller looking like a steam engine that's about to explode. I thought I had nothing left as a kicker until I saw him. I couldn't let stroller man beat me. I somehow increased my pace just enough to keep him in my rear-view and finished in 19:38 a new PR! I went up to stroller man after the race and told him how impressed I was with him for running while pushing a kid. Though I beat stroller man, he's a winner in my books.

 

My pace looks like the decent of an airplane.

Somehow I set a new PR. I wasn't really thinking that would happen due to my fatigue level. This makes me excited to try for a new PR when I am fully rested! 

The race, which seemed so organized, didn't track or record times. When I asked about it I was told that it wasn't for 'time'. This puzzled me greatly because that is EXACTLY what a race is; it's running a set distance for time. Someone else asked about this in the group's FB page and someone had the nerve to say that we should run to support them not so someone can track our time. But it's not one or the other. You can run a race for support AND want your time tracked. This race is an example of an organization deciding to hold an event without ever talking to a runner. They had the swag and the bling but not the race results. I'd take official results any day over a t-shirt I'll never wear again.

Perspectvie

I've gone on a few runs since my last post, but you don't need to hear about that. You should hear about Jonathan Mendes. I read about him over at Runners World and was blown away. Let me tell you a few things about this man. First, he is 95 years old and he started running at age 44 when he was told by his doctor to stop smoking.  Second, he is a retired Marine Corps Colonel who flew missions in WWII and Korea. Since he started running he has completed 14 marathons and was set to become the oldest man to complete the NYC marathon last Sunday.

Jon Mendes, a bomber pilot in World War II and the Korean War who attempted to finish the NYC Marathon 1 November 2015.
Credit Todd Heisler/The New York Times       

He didn't make it through the course though. After 16 miles he dropped out. “I quit because I started getting some pain in my legs,  I called a cab home, had a double scotch, took a shower, and went to sleep.”  Is he upset that he didn't make it to the finish line? No. He's been there and done that. Does he like scotch? Yes, so he's awesome in my book. He's had his life threatened in a war. He's been widowed twice. He has been all over the world. Not making it to the end an abstract distance, in this case 26.2 miles, just didn't bother him very much. Talk about perspective.

When asked if he will try again next year he said, "If I am still here and I feel like I can, we will do it once again. Don't tell my children.” The last sentence made me laugh. I hope I can make my kids worry about me when I'm that old.

This man has a sagacious perspective I long for. He will run if he's able. He will try if he can. But he's not too worried about finishing or failing. To him it's just a blessing and privilege to get up and go on a run. He's focused on what he can do, not what he can't. He's focused on what blessings he has, not what he lacks. He said, “I am a very fortunate person, they tell me I have all my marbles. I go in the park every morning around 7:15 a.m. and I say, ‘Hey, God, thank you for good health and a good quality of life.’”

I pray I can have the perspective of this man (hopefully before I'm 95). I pray I can say, 'Hey, God, thank you for good health and a good quality of life', and leave all the other distractions and potential disappointments behind.

Butterfingers FTW

Today I went on a 10 mile run. It was raining pretty good and it was forecast to keep raining. But I needed to get this run in. So I ran in the rain, lots and lots of rain. There was an abundance of Halloween candy in the office today so I decided to use that to my advantage. Before my run I downed a protein shake with a little bit of PB2 in it and I ate a mini Butterfingers candy bar. It was right before lunch so I needed some fuel to keep me going. 

I strapped on my Nathan Trail Mix Hydration Belt and tucked in a mini Butterfingers into the storage pack for when I hit mile 5. Who needs gels/goo when you have candy? My goal was to run easy, around an 8 min/mile pace. But if that didn't feel good I was fine to slow down. This run was not about speed but getting my distance up. It's only good to work on one thing at a time; speed or distance.  Fortunately 8 min/mile felt great and I was able to keep even go a bit faster! 

Wet wet wet. I promise it's not sweat.

Around mile 6 I had some running thoughts. You know, the kind that seem profound when you are running but when you are sweaty and gross and taking a shower they seem stupid. Mostly they were along the lines of, 'Isn't is great to be alive?' and, 'I'm so thankful I can get out here and use my body and do this!'  I don't feel that way every run so it was nice to just feel good. Around mile 7 it truly started to pour and I got as wet as a drowned rat. After getting back I rewarded myself with another mini Butterfinger, because, why not?

My splits for the 10 mile run

Lesson learned today; I think I will use Halloween candy on all my long runs this training cycle. 

Half in a Month & Week In Review

Wish me luck! I signed up for the Harbor Lights Half Marathon on November 22. That means I have 19 days left to train! The good news is that I have a good mileage base built up. I've been running between 20-30 miles per week for a long time. The epic news is there is a 'pie stop' during the race. That's right, they are handing out little mini pumpkin pies to keep you going. And there is beer at the end, which is always a win.

The bad news is my longest run the past 6 months is only 8 miles long. I would love to PR this race but I am not sure if I will have the endurance to stay with it the last few miles. My plan is to get three 'long' runs in before race day and hope for the best. I know (Lord willing) that I can finish, but I'm not really sure if I can keep my goal pace for the duration. 

This is my 'pain' face on September 25th. This was my first run back on shore after my deployment. I was already thinking of running the Half, so in many ways this was my first training run.

Here's my week in review:

Monday: 6.24 miles at 7:46 pace
Tuesday: Weights for an hour, chest and some biceps
Wednesday: 8 miles at 8:27 pace
Thursday: 5 miles at 7:59 pace, 50 pull-ups and 50 push-ups
Friday: 5 miles at 7:45 pace, 35 pull-ups, 50 push-ups
Saturday: 5 miles at 8:12 pace 65 pull-ups, beer, pizza and some Halloween candy
Sunday: Rest!

Total miles for the week: 29.24
Total miles for October: 101
Average October pace: 8:01

I didn't get any photos this week during my workouts so here is me on 'rest' day; Sunday morning enjoying some coffee.