I'm Ready!

One week to go before my very first half marathon! I am getting pretty excited, I must admit. I had a decent week of training, and now it's time to taper. This week I only plan to run once, and ride my bike twice. I am taking Thursday through Saturday off so that my legs will be well rested for Sunday. The weather forecast has changed a few times already in the last few days. Right now it is supposed to be in the 50s with a 60% chance of rain. I HATE running in the rain, so needless to say I am keeping my fingers crossed that it changes. I've run in some nasty weather though, so I feel like I can handle whatever comes at me. I just want to finish and feel that I can do that no matter what. I have some soreness in my foot, but I think if I keep taking my motrin, icing and resting up that I will be just fine. After Sunday is over I plan to take a good week or two off to recover completely. I still have to tweak my music playlist- I need to have some slowish songs in the beginning. My tendency in races is to go out fast, but I know I can't do that if I am going to maintain or speed up my pace as I go on. I really intend to start slow and finish strong. I have my outfit all planned out- purple running skirt from Athleta, black underarmour short-sleeve top, arm warmers (too cold not too I think but I get too hot in long sleeve shirts), and pink calf sleeves. My bluetooth headphones will be all charged and ready to go, along with my Garmin and my ipod. I plan to carry my Camelback for water, as well as a package of Gu Chomps. I know there are plenty of water stops, but I really like to have water whenever I want it, which is usually often. I also hate dealing with all the people that bunch up at water stops and then I also would have to walk. I don't want to encourage myself to do that and plus I have done all of my long runs with the Camelback and it was fine. As far as the Chomps, I will try to eat some at the beginning and then maybe around miles 5 and 10. The only concern I have is that in the past, they didn't sit too well early in the morning. But I am hoping that since I will have already eaten breakfast and been up for several hours that my body will be confused and will tolerate it fine. Nothing else really works for me energy-wise- gels are gross and I don't care for Gatorade-type drinks. I feel like I am ready for this and I have trained hard. I definitely had some setbacks and didn't get in all of the mileage that I had planned to, but I worked hard. My goal is simple- finish on my feet, with a smile on my face. Oh, and if the clock reads anything less than 2 1/2 hours, that would be even better.

Absentee Blogger

Bad blogger, bad! Well, today is two weeks from the big half marathon. I haven't had a great month of training, unfortunately. I was sidelined by injury, then went away on vacation, came back and was still hurting. Stupid feet and shins. Last weekend I had a great 9 mile run, which did a lot for my confidence, but made my legs very tired for the week. I had planned to do two 3 mile runs and a 10 miler this week. Sadly, I cut the two short runs even shorter and didn't do the 10 mile run. I got a new pair of sneakers (Saucony Kinvara) in hopes that I can avoid further stress fractures in my feet. I was hoping to get the 10 miles in this weekend, but the weather did not cooperate and my legs really weren't ready. So I have a couple of possible plans. I am planning to run 3 miles after work tomorrow at the gym. Then on Wednesday, I am either going to run 10 miles after work or 6. If I run 6, I will run another 6 over the weekend. If I run 10, I will probably just do a short run on the weekend. Mentally, I think I am ready for 13.1. I am more worried about my shins and feet holding up if I do another long run beforehand. So we will see what happens. Hoping for good weather and healthy legs and feet for May 1st!

Taking Some Time Off

I know I have kind of fallen off the face of the earth. Training was moving along nicely. I ran a new PR for the Bengal Run on 3/19, which was pretty exciting. Unfortunately after that run, my right foot starting feeling sore again. Against my better judgement, I ran the next day. I had a 9 mile run planned, and I am so stubborn and determined, that I did it. I ended up walking much of it, because of the pain in my foot. I knew what it was, but I went back to the podiatrist anyway. An xray and ultrasound confirmed that the stress fracture had either returned or never healed in the first place. I was feeling so good for awhile there too. So I haven't run in nearly two weeks. The timing kind of worked out though, since we went to Vegas for a week. We even brought our gym bags- but sadly, never even opened them! I ate like a pig and enjoyed every second. Although it was sad to come home, I enjoyed eating healthy food today and even got on my bike trainer for a 7 mile ride. I plan to re-evaluate after this weekend. I did a lot of walking in Vegas, so I suspect that may slow my recovery. I am feeling better but not quite right yet. The half marathon is a month away, so if I can't get back to where I was, I may have to skip it and plan for another one. But I am thinking that if I can get in a couple of easy 2-3 milers next week, and then get in a good long run the following week, that I may still be able to do it. I had planned on maxing out my long run at 12 miles, but I don't have time to do that now. I can still hit 10 though, and a lot of training plans are set up that way. And I figure, as long as my foot is ok, I know I can finish- even if I end up walking some of it. Who cares how I get there, as long as I finish on my feet?

ABCs

I think it's time to write about something other than running. Yes, my blog is called D. Rock Runs, but I do other things too. I've seen this on a couple of other blogs, so I thought I would give it a whirl too since I like reading these.

(A) Age: 34 Sometimes I forget, and I think I am still 32. I have to do some math to figure it out.
(B) Bed Size: Queen, but I wish it was a king.
(C) Chore You Hate: Cleaning the bathroom.
(D) Dogs: Penny the Pug, Jack the Jack Russell/Beagle and Kira the German Shepard/Husky. Plus two cats- Socks and Abby.
(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: Coffee (regular with coffeemate or a non-fat latte)
(F) Favorite Color: Yellow and pink.
(G) Gold or Silver? White gold.
(H) Height: 5'1"
(I) Instruments You Play: Clarinet ( Any type, plus Alto sax and oboe)
(J) Job Title: Audiologist
(K) Kids: Never
(L) Live: Tonawanda, NY
(M) Mom’s Name: Sheree
(N) Nicknames: Dani, D, Shims, Rock
(O) Overnight Hospital Stays? Never
(P) Pet Peeve: So many too list, so little time. Messy people are the biggest one for me.
(Q) Quote from a Movie: I can never remember quotes.
(R) Right or Left Handed? Right.
(S) Siblings: 1 younger sister
(T) Time You Wake Up? 4:45am if I have to run before work, 6am if I don't have to run, and between 8 and 10am on the weekend
(U) Underwear: Always
(V) Vegetable You Dislike: Onions
(W) What Makes You Run Late: A little dog taking her sweet time to do her business
(X) X-Rays You’ve Had Done: Teeth, right foot
(Y) Yummy Food You Make: Shrimp Scampi
(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal: Bears

Chilly Challenge 5K

I have been dying for a nice day to run outside, and I finally got my wish today. Nice, as in not snowing and windy. As in 25 degrees, but sunny and no snow on the roads! I will take it. All I really wanted was to run a nice solid race. I set my Garmin Virtual Partner to a 10:20 pace. Because I didn't have time to get my long run in this week, my plan was to run a little 1 mile warm-up, run the 5K and then run another 4 miles afterwards. Yeah right :) Anyway my husband was nice enough to stay with me for the warm-up and we ran a nice solid mile. I felt pretty good and was hoping I didn't waste too much energy. I actually think it was helpful to run a little warm-up. My first mile was awesome. I couldn't believe it when I looked at my watch after the first quarter mile to see I was running an 8:45 pace. I have never done that before. Anyway I just kept at it and ended up hitting the 1 mile mark at 8:50. The next mile went by pretty easily, and although I couldn't maintain that speedy (for me) pace, I did run the second mile around 9:55, which is still faster than I have ever run before. The third mile was tough- I was getting tired and it was slightly uphill here. As I was hitting 2.5, I started to realize that I could actually achieve one of my goals for 2011, which was to run a 5K in under 30 minutes. I was running just over a 10 minute mile now, so I knew I had to pick it up if I had any chance. I picked a guy in front of me to pass and I turned it on full steam- finishing the last tenth of a mile at a 7:57 pace. I did pass him, and my Garmin time was 29:57. I did it! I didn't know if I would ever meet my goal, and here it is February, and I did it. I slaughtered my Virtual Partner too- my pace was 9:42. My legs were hurting after that, and although we tried to run another 4 miles, I could only muster another 1.68. We decided that was enough, and that my long run would need to be a little short this week. Normally a long run is far from running all out, and I really had nothing left at that point. It was a nice race and very well organized, with yummy chili at the end. Yay for my PR and yay for my husband who got a PR and placed 3rd in his age group today!

Why I Run

I decided that today I would make a list of reasons why I run, because I think sometimes I need a little reminder. I got up at 4:30am today so that I could get in an "easy 3 miles". But, as luck would have it, it was anything but easy. I was tired, my left shin was bothering me, and the blisters I ended up with after a wet 5K on Saturday and a long 7 miler on Sunday decided to re-appear. Ironically, my stress fracture seems to be much better, and isn't really causing any problems for me right now. But I felt very tired, and it was just a slow, uninspiring run. I cut it short to two miles and did some weights instead. Not too big of a deal, since I had a two mile run scheduled this week anyway, but I just felt like I couldn't go any farther, which kind of sucks when the long range goal is 13.1. I know that I am still easing my way back after my injury, but I can't help but feel disappointed and a little bit concerned that I have taken on something I can't do. Anyway, back to the reasons why I run:

I run for my health. Running helped me lose 17 lbs & I have never felt better. I want to be as fit as possible.

I run for the challenge. Hey, running is hard, and who doesn't love a good challenge?

I run to reach goals. I love the feeling of running faster & further. I'm very competitive, if only with myself.

I run for the fun of it. Let's face it, the Turkey Trot is hilarious, and even more so now that I don't hate it.

I wouldn't say that I LOVE to run, but I don't HATE it anymore either. I hate when it doesn't go well, like today, but I had some great runs last week that reminded me why I do this. I know I will have some better runs coming up and some bad ones along the way too. That's what it's all about, right?

A Fantastic Run

I am definitely back! I have run the last 3 out of 4 days and I feel really good. No pain, other than from the bruise on top of my foot. I have been feeling great during my runs, with lots of energy. I am still keeping my mileage down, just to make sure I don't come back too fast. Yesterday I did 2 miles, at a 10:30 pace, which is my fastest training run ever! Not only that, it is only 2 seconds slower than my best race! So with a a 5K on tap for Saturday, I have to admit I am feeling very excited. I feel like I should be able to PR with no problem, provided that it isn't a snowstorm again and the roads are clear. It is so nice to run pain-free- hopefully it lasts!