totally unprepared.

I think my last "long" run was on July 4th, a 10K.  I ran a 10K last night as a training run for my 4th Half Marathon, which is SUNDAY.  Yup, since my last half on May 1, the longest I've run is a 10k.  Not frequently, not regularly, not nothing.

I do not like running in the summer.  I don't like the heat, I don't like the humidity and my asthma doesn't like it either.  I am trying out using Singulair to treat my exercise induced asthma on these awful days, but it's really hard to determine what's causing my misery when it's hot, humid AND i'm completely out of racing form.

The good news (for my running) is that we're on the down side of summer, so things will cool off soon.  The Rock N Roll Half is supposed to be the mid-point of my marathon training, and it's almost become a relaunch.  Whatever, gotta get it done.  After this weekend, I'm heading into previously untravelled experiences runningwise, letting the weekend long runs start drifting upwards of 13.1 miles. 

Well, I'll let you know how it goes on Sunday.  I'm hoping to run more than I walk, and enjoy the scenery and the music of the first Providence Rock and Roll Half Marathon.

Holidays and 5Ks

I ran my very first Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning.  It was chilly out, but my boyfriend and I got up and raced at 9am to earn our turkey dinners. 

Here we are pre-race:

This was BF's first official 5K, and he did pretty awesome.  I'm sure he ran a sub 30:00, however in something I've never seen before, there was no starting line that I could see.  It's as if they just turned all our chips on at the same time or something.  I didn't hear a gun, a horn, or someone yelling GO.  We just started running when the crowd in front of us moved!  Anyway, my official time was 29:35.

Yesterday, we moved on to the next holiday, and ran the Providence, RI Jingle 5K.  You may recall I ran a 5K in Providence in September with my sister and my 13 year old nephew.  This Jingle 5K was our next group event, adding my BF to the team, and because the race encouraged costumes and team, etc, we named our team "Missile Toes".  I was hoping it would get me kissed along the way by hot men, or at least one hot man (hello, boyfriend!).  We did not stop to kiss along the way, but we did run as fast as we could!  I nearly PR'd with an official time of 27:51.  My PR is a 27:49, but that was an unchipped event, so this might actually be a PR.  Whatever, I ran HARD and was sucking on my inhaler throughout the race!  Cold weather racing is definitely hard on my asthma, but I didn't give up, and unlike last week, I didn't even walk when taking a hit off my inhaler.  Of our team, my nephew and my boyfriend finished before me (in that order) and my sister finished after me.  Here we all are pre-race:



and here I am, finishing!

I'm hoping that my good finishing time and my horrible asthma are enough to get me back on the roads on a semi-regular schedule again, so my lungs can get a bit more accustomed to the cold.  I've got another 5K in two weeks, and then a 5 miler less than 2 weeks after that!  Can't have my boyfriend be beating me all over the streets of New England!  :)  More importantly, I'm almost a full pound over my upper limit as of this morning (though a post-race day is not a good day to weigh in), so I need to keep moving. 

what if I can't do it? what if it's just too hard?

I CAN DO HARD THINGS.

One of the online communities I belong to has a few smart people floating around.  Maybe more than a few, but there are a few that strike a chord with me.  One of my self-talk phrases I use when I run to motivate myself is "I can do hard things".  I didn't think of this myself, I read it when one of these smart ladies posted it.  Another smart lady kept that post and reposted it on her blog.  I read it every so often because sometimes I try and talk myself out of pushing myself further. 

Yes, we should learn to respect our own limits.  I'm not saying I would try and hold my breath for 10 minutes underwater or anything.  I'm just saying that sometimes, maybe on a training run, I want to wimp out, turn around and go home.  3 miles is enough, even though the plan was for 8.  really?  is it too hard to go 8?  What are the factors?  is it too hot? too cold?  am i in pain?  is my asthma kicking in?  or is there a cute boyfriend sitting on the couch just waiting for me to come home?  yeah, thought so.  Keep running!! 

Sometimes is is too hot/cold/rainy.  it's hard!  but yes, I can do hard things.  My first 5k?  in the rain.  I didn't know what I was doing, but I just ran.  Now I know I can.  Hell, I willingly gave up solid food for 4 weeks after my RNY.  Hard?  YES!  did it?  YES!  Guess what??? I can do hard things.

YOU.  YOU can do hard things too.

the heat just melts the motivation right off of me

It's true.  I have not enjoyed running this summer.  Really hot, really humid.... blech.  And the treadmill?  I'd usually rather kill myself.  When I run outside, it's usually in a loop, so the scenery keeps changing.  A treadmill means it NEVER changes.  The wind doesn't blow for relief, you don't see a kid, a cat, a dog, nothing, so I'm pretty committed to running outside whenever possible.

Outside.  In the sun.  The breeze might bring relief, or a rush of even hotter air.  or thick, wet air.  Breathing is near impossible (and I have sports enduced asthma), so my body's natural instinct is to NOT RUN.  It's self preservation!

But, I run.  Somedays I don't meet my distance goal, and that's ok.  I try my best.  I bitch and complain. Why?  Because every once in a while, I'll catch a cool (under 80 degrees) night, low humidity, and energy to burn.  I'll run further than I think I can go, and sprint the last mile.  The right song will come on my MP3 player, and I'll start singing along while I run, or even be tempted to throw in some dance moves.  I'll feel AWESOME.

so who cares about those tuff days?  The good days feel soooooooooooooooo good!