I'm Scared

I'm scared. I really am!  I finally gave in and registered for the Lake Minnetonka Half marathon next weekend. I know I don't have really any reason to be scared about this race. It's just a race just like any other race I've done this year. It's just so far!

I'm scared that I am doing this race all on my own! No one is running this race with me. Now, I understand I've done most of my training since my 10k by myself, but am I going to be able to keep myself motivated for 13.1 miles in 10 days?! I have no idea! I know I'll have my family there to cheer me on but it's not the same as having someone right next to me pushing me to keep going and to keep the pace up.

I'm scared about being so slow.  The part that scares me about this the most is that they are going to run out of water or Gatorade (or whatever) before I get to the water/aid stations. Then I'm just not going to make it through the race because I'll be so dehydrated. I dont know! I wasn't planning on running with my own water on this race. When I volunteered for Race for the Cure last year, the water station I was helping near ran out of water! What if that happens? That was only a 5k distance. I'm also scared they are going to start breaking down the finish line before I get there. How embarrassing!

I'm scared of the hills! Most of my running has been on the treadmill and trail running. The trails around here are pretty dang flat.  The only hill work I do is running up the hill in my neighborhood since my house is on the highest point in the area. Is that enough?! The reviews I see of this race say it has lots of rolling hills. Ugh! What have I gotten myself into?

I'm scared of not having my music with me when I run. I train with my iPhone but every race I've ever run I did not wear my headphones with music. I've been told to stay away from this anyway. So I plan on just enjoying nature and listening to my body and my feet hitting the pavement. 

I wish I was as confident as Ann! I know I've done the training. But some weeks, I didn't do all the training runs. Instead of 4 runs a week, I averaged 3 runs per week but always making sure I had gotten that long weekend run completed.  I am supposed to do a 12 mile run this weekend but then I looked at a half marathon training and they have it set up for 10 miles this weekend. Which one should I do? I think I would feel more confident knowing I could do 12 miles this weekend. AAAHHH!

I have a 3 mile run tomorrow after work and then my long run this weekend. I'm just going to keep plugging away at the miles and then I am going to get over being scared and just put one foot infront of the other. Let's see how I feel this time next week.

Running Clothing: Pants and Underwear

I need advice. I keep wearing *literally* through the capris I wear when I run.

When I started running last year, I started in a pair of G9 Capris from Target. At the time, I was just looking for something that fit and wasn't overly expensive. They worked for a while until I just couldnt get the sweat smell out in the wash.

Then, in November, I moved onto a pair of Nike capris I found at Dicks. The fabric was much thicker and seemed more durable. I wore just these for the next couple of month until I decided to pick up another pair. Then I was rotating through two pairs. This cut down on the amount of washing I was doing. Last week I slipped on the older pair of Nike capris and noticed there was a nice hole in the seam at the inside of my left thigh. I was upset because I actually spent a great deal of money on these capris. Now, you see, I carry my weight in my thigh, I always have. This is the first place that wears in most of my pants including my jeans.

Now i'm down to one pair of capris again. So I'm looking for another pair. I have also been looking at some running skorts. I guess I'm looking for something that wont split down the seams of my thighs. If I am paying that much for an article of clothing, I want it to last longer than a couple of months.


I also need advice on underwear. I know most women run without underwear but the feeling just drives me crazy! I can't get over it. I dont wear it when I bike so you wouldn't think it would be that big of a deal. For those who don't wear underwear when they run, what do you do to prevent chafing? For those who do wear underwear, what kind do you wear? I'm currently wearing underwear that is synthetic and not cotton. I don't want to feel like I'm wearing a wet diaper at the end of 13.1 miles next week.

Terrible, Horrible, Not So Good Very Bad Week

How is that for a title? I've been thinking about doing this post most of the weekend but putting it off over and over. It's been a HORRIBLE week as far as half marathon training.  Oh well, and taking care of myself in general. It amazes me how the things I do hour-to-hour each day affects me greatly. I guess I never really realized it until I started living a better life. That is, better from when I was depressed that one summer.

There were things I didn't do this week that I had been doing consistently since I committed to the Twin Cities Marathon. Everything happened like a chain reaction. So I'll start with the thing that compromised my whole week. I was getting to bed after midnight! I'm old. I usually go to bed around ten or ten-thirty. I was staying up way past that. I have a book series I got overly addicted to reading to blame for that. Its just that good. But I was staying up too late which caused me to sleep in. Which would usually be fine because I don't have to go into work really early.

I struggled to get through the day. I was exhausted. I never eat well when I'm tired. I was too lazy to go to the grocery store to stock the fridge. (I still need to do this). So most of my lunches were eaten out. Actually I think all of them were. Because I ate like crap for lunch, I was so lethargic by the time six rolled around, I had no energy to go to the gym or go for a run outside. There was one good day for running. I ran three miles on Wednesday while my husband rode his bike. I was worried about running fast enough for him to keep his feet off the ground. I found because he was there to push me and to chat with me, I actually ran faster. The weather was glorious on Wednesday night. I ran the first mile at an 11 min pace, the second at 11:30 and the third was a bit slower at 12:49 (but hey, it's all uphill that last mile). I was thankful he pushed me out the door that day. 

After that Wednesday run, I didn't run the rest of the week. Work...the damn book, got in the way. Per the schedule, I was supposed to run 3-5-3-7 this week. Well, I only got the three completed for Wednesday and I struggled through four on Saturday. During that run on Saturday, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to do the 7 the following day. I had been contemplating moving my half marathon back a week. There is another race the following weekend in the Twin Cities that looked a little more...what could it be....a little more like a beginners race? I realized tonight while sitting down to dinner with Pat that I won't be able to do that. The Madison Symphony Orchestra is doing it's season finale with Gershwin. I could not miss this concert and was looking forward to it all year. So I couldn't let some fear of a 13.1 mile race take that away from me. I will be doing the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon in two weeks even though I missed a whole week of training.

I'm scared. I'm feeling alot like my blogging friend Ann was feeling during her week 10 training for the Get in Gear Half coming up next weekend. GOODLUCK ANN!! I wish I could be there to cheer her on. I am completely apprehensive. After my 10k, I worry that the race will be horrible. I finished that race a ton slower than I expected. I fear being the last person to cross the finish line.

How to make up for last week? I have no idea. I don't want to work out extra to make up for it for fear of injuring myself. The plan this week calls for 3-6-3-12. Am I supposed to run that far the weekend before a race? If anyone can answer this, please let me know. The plan also doesnt give me any taper plan. Any ideas for that too? The following week says 3-6-3-race. Hmmmm.

I am going to read for an hour and then head to bed. I plan on getting up in the morning to log three miles. It starts with earlier to bed and then each day will be better. Tomorrow night, I plan to write about what I've learned since my 10k and how I hope to apply it to my half and hope it works better.

Weekend Long Run: 9 Miles

I was in the Twin Cities over last weekend for the Easter holiday.  I haven't been up there since Christmas so I figured it was about time to see my family and friends. As far as marathon training, I had a 9 mile run scheduled for the weekend. My sister approached me about doing a run on Saturday. I told her about the nine miles. She was a little worried because she hadn't been running much since November. (She's completed 2 Ironman races, so I knew she had nothing to worry about.)

We laid low on Friday night. My friend Christina came all the way to Saint Paul from Plymouth for just a couple of hours of hanging out, chatting, enjoying a glass of wine, and watching The League reruns on tv (I love this show now). Knowing that I had a long run the next morning, I was not going to go party too hard. Us old people went to bed by 11pm.

I slept amazing on my sisters new bed in her spare room! Thanks for the great guest bed! Saturday morning was a little grey and dreary. Perfect running weather right? After checking the weather, I wasn't really sure what to wear. I couldn't really tell if it was going to rain or not so I ended up in running capris, a long sleeve shirt and a jacket. My sister gave me a goody bag of all sorts of fun stuff from REI. There were running socks and all sorts of Gu products. She was amazing and bought me a pair of compression socks! I was surely going to use these after my run!

We chose a route along the Mississippi just south of the University of Minnesota campus. For those of you from the metro area, we did a loop from Ford Parkway to North on W. River Parkway. Then across the river over the Franklin St bridge and south on E River Parkway. It started sprinkling pretty early into the run. I should have expected that. I've run in the rain before and I actually find it somewhat enjoyable, as long as its not pouring.

My sister was encouraging through the time we were hitting the pavement. She was sure we were running a 10min/mile pace, which I was sure we weren't doing. I have issues maintaining that, especially outside. I really just kept going though. I know I ran the first 3 miles without stopping to walk...I lie. We did stop to stretch after mile one.  I felt pretty good until about 45 minutes into it. My sister was carrying water for both of us. She had some fancy powder mixed into the water. It was refreshing. She also was carrying some Gu Chomps to try out when we needed to refuel. They were delicious by the way and so much easier than the Gu Gel.

The last four miles were HARD! I was in a bad place mentally because I was frustrated at how tired I was feeling and how much I was slowing down. The rain wasn't helping me and I felt like I was holding my sister back. I was annoyed with how much I wanted to walk. It really took more urging by my sister and a few long moments of staring at the sky while I ran to get me past that moment of mental and physical block. It took maybe a mile worth of distance to get through it. And even then, when I got past that moment, I was still exhausted. I just wanted to stop and have someone come pick me up.

We walked one last time before running the last two miles. I figured at this point I should have fueled again or taken some more water.  I'll give that a try this coming weekend on my 10 mile run. Ugh! These last two miles were  felt insanely slow even though they really were only about 30 seconds slower per mile than the beginning of my run. I still finished though. My sister let me walk the last quarter mile back to her house. It was all uphill.  I am still thankful for her patience with me during this run.

I thought I would feel better on this run than I did. It worries me about whether or not I am going to be able to do 13.1 miles in less than 4 weeks. Everyone tells me I can do it so I'm going to keep chugging away at the mileage. I'll be doing the half marathon by myself. Boo!

I gave the compression socks a try after taking a shower. My legs were tight and sore but felt amazing the next day.

Like I said earlier, 10 mile run this weekend. Its supposed to be a rainy weekend again. I'll probably be taking the trail near my house in and out and back and I'll be running it alone. It will be interesting to see how my numbers look with such a distance and alone.

March Recap

I haven't posted much this month. Work has just been crazy and I've been running quite a bit. Here's my March recap of workouts.

Total Workouts: 15 (all workouts were running/walking. I didnt do any biking this month)

Total Distance: 59.39 miles (almost to the milestone 60!)


Total Time: 13:14:22


Average Speed: 4.5 mph (I feel like this is super slow but I did have a couple of walking workouts)


Calories Burned: 9,272 cal

So I'm feeling pretty good about March. I was hopeful that I would have had more than 15 days of work out. 

The camera on my iPhone still amazes me.

I had a 5 mile step back day on the schedule for today. It was nice to have to run only 5 miles. I ran on a state trail right by my house and when I got to my turn around point, I really just wanted to keep going but I knew I could do that in two weeks when I have my 10 mile run planned.  This part of the trail was is in good shape. The part of the trail closer to my house was really torn up from bikers riding on it when the ground was still really wet. I ended up running parts of that off the side of the trail in the leaves. 

5 weeks until my half marathon (that I still haven't registered for). Next weekend I'll be running 9 miles with my sister through St. Paul. She's so patient.