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Little changes making a big difference.


The New Plan

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Today is a wonderful day in running land!

Tape, body glide, compression socks, stick, water, ready to go! Oh and rain boots that have been sitting under the coffee table since the last time it rained. Yes, I do live in Phoenix.

I returned to long running with Kara.

Pre run breakfast. Toast, pb, banana, iced coffee. You know, the same thing you see on every other running blog.

We had a fabulous 10 mile run. We also discovered that it’s apparently summer already here in P-H-X and we’re going to have to start running earlier. You know, by May our runs will start at 3am. We finished in 1:45:51 for an average pace of 10:35.

Long run times are tricky. I’m trying to get used to the whole easy pace thing, but my paces were all over the place. I used to just run as hard as I could keep up for the amount of miles I had scheduled, but now I have to actually figure out what different paces feel like in my body. It’s also hard to look at a 10:35 pace and think “Great job! Right on target.” But, I actually hooked myself up with a real legit training plan from Smart Coach. I put in my Lost Dutchman time, and the date of RnR Seattle (Laaaauuuuurrreeellll…it’s calling to us!!!) in the hopes that it will work out and I’ll be able to run it, chose the hardest plan (naturally) and got a really manageable looking plan with an end race of *gulp* 1:56. I’m modifying it a little bit. It has 4 running days per week, and I’m changing it to 3 because my body likes that better, and I’m gonna switch some of the days around, but otherwise, I’m really gonna try to stick to it.

Smart Coach - Intelligent Training Plans, Just For You

Here’s your individualized training program:

Current race time: 2:05:00 for a Half Marathon.
Distance training goal: Half Marathon
Initial weekly distance: 16 – 21 Miles
Training intensity level: Very Hard
Long run day: Friday
Plan start date: Monday, 3/19/2012
Race date: Saturday, 6/23/2012
Training plan length: 14 weeks

Print Adjust my plan

For more explanation of a workout, click the title of the workout.
Week
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
1
MAR 19
MAR 20
MAR 21
MAR 22
MAR 23
MAR 24
MAR 25
12 Mi

Dist: 2 Mi
@10:54

Dist: 8 Mi
@10:54

Dist: 2 Mi
@10:54
2
MAR 26
MAR 27
MAR 28
MAR 29
MAR 30
MAR 31
APR 1
16 Mi

Dist: 4 Mi, inc
Warm; 2×1600 in 8:45
w/800 jogs; Cool

Dist: 2 Mi
@10:53

Dist: 8 Mi
@10:53

Dist: 2 Mi
@10:53
3
APR 2
APR 3
APR 4
APR 5
APR 6
APR 7
APR 8
18 Mi

Dist: 5 Mi, inc
Warm; 3 Mi @ 9:13; Cool

Dist: 2 Mi
@10:49

Dist: 9 Mi
@10:49

Dist: 2 Mi
@10:49
4
APR 9
APR 10
APR 11
APR 12
APR 13
APR 14
APR 15
20 Mi

Dist: 5 Mi, inc
Warm; 3 Mi @ 9:09; Cool

Dist: 3 Mi
@10:45

Dist: 10 Mi
@10:45

Dist: 2 Mi
@10:45
5
APR 16
APR 17
APR 18
APR 19
APR 20
APR 21
APR 22
17 Mi

Dist: 4 Mi
@10:41

Dist: 4 Mi
@10:41

Dist: 5 Mi
@10:41

Dist: 4 Mi
@10:41
6
APR 23
APR 24
APR 25
APR 26
APR 27
APR 28
APR 29
22 Mi

Dist: 6 Mi, inc
Warm; 3×1600 in 8:35
w/800 jogs; Cool

Dist: 3 Mi
@10:41

Dist: 11 Mi
@10:41

Dist: 2 Mi
@10:41
7
APR 30
MAY 1
MAY 2
MAY 3
MAY 4
MAY 5
MAY 6
23 Mi

Dist: 6 Mi, inc
Warm; 4 Mi @ 9:07; Cool

Dist: 3 Mi
@10:37

Dist: 11 Mi
@10:37

Dist: 3 Mi
@10:37
8
MAY 7
MAY 8
MAY 9
MAY 10
MAY 11
MAY 12
MAY 13
25 Mi

Dist: 3 Mi
@10:33

Dist: 6 Mi, inc
Warm; 4 Mi @ 9:03; Cool

Dist: 2 Mi
@10:33

Dist: 12 Mi
@10:33

Dist: 2 Mi
@10:33
9
MAY 14
MAY 15
MAY 16
MAY 17
MAY 18
MAY 19
MAY 20
27 Mi

Dist: 3 Mi
@10:30

Dist: 6 Mi, inc
Warm; 3×1600 in 8:25
w/800 jogs; Cool

Dist: 3 Mi
@10:30

Dist: 13 Mi
@10:30

Dist: 2 Mi
@10:30
10
MAY 21
MAY 22
MAY 23
MAY 24
MAY 25
MAY 26
MAY 27
22 Mi

Dist: 5 Mi
@10:26

Dist: 4 Mi
@10:26

Dist: 4 Mi
@10:26

Dist: 5 Mi
@10:26

Dist: 4 Mi
@10:26
11
MAY 28
MAY 29
MAY 30
MAY 31
JUN 1
JUN 2
JUN 3
29 Mi

Dist: 4 Mi
@10:26

Dist: 6 Mi, inc
Warm; 4 Mi @ 8:56; Cool

Dist: 3 Mi
@10:26

Dist: 13 Mi
@10:26

Dist: 3 Mi
@10:26
12
JUN 4
JUN 5
JUN 6
JUN 7
JUN 8
JUN 9
JUN 10
31 Mi

Dist: 4 Mi
@10:22

Dist: 6 Mi, inc
Warm; 4 Mi @ 8:53; Cool

Dist: 4 Mi
@10:22

Dist: 13 Mi
@10:22

Dist: 4 Mi
@10:22
13
JUN 11
JUN 12
JUN 13
JUN 14
JUN 15
JUN 16
JUN 17
33 Mi

Dist: 5 Mi
@10:19

Dist: 6 Mi, inc
Warm; 3×1600 in 8:15
w/800 jogs; Cool

Dist: 5 Mi
@10:19

Dist: 13 Mi
@10:19

Dist: 4 Mi
@10:19
14
JUN 18
JUN 19
JUN 20
JUN 21
JUN 22
JUN 23
JUN 24
23 Mi

Dist: 3 Mi
@10:16

Dist: 3 Mi
@10:16

Dist: 4 Mi, inc
Warm; 2×1600 in 8:12
w/800 jogs; Cool

13.1 Mi @8:51
Time: 1:55:58

Well, obviously I already failed at sticking to it this week, but I didn’t make it until the middle of the week…excuses, excuses. I ran too far and not at the correct pace today. Sorry Smart Coach. Just wait for next week when I amaze you with perfectly on target 1600s!

Easy run day will be Mondays with Jason, speed work/tempos will be Wednesdays, and spin will be Tues/Sunday. The rest will be whatever Saturdays will be whatever I want, and maybe sometimes I will strength train like I should 😉

I’m ridiculously excited about having a real live plan to follow with specific speedwork, pace goals, and accountability. In fact, I feel like it’s a little ridiculous that up until now I thought I was smart enough to create my own. To be fair, I didn’t really know about Smart Coach, and it is magical. All you have to do is go to Runner’s World, create an account, go to the Smart Coach and put in your info! Super easy and free. You all know I like free things 😉

Has anyone else used Smart Coach? Like training plans? Like to create your own?

Change of Plan

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Can I just say that I didn’t ever, for one single minute, consider that the idea of finishing my second half marathon 9 minutes faster than my first, only a month later, even possible! The thought never crossed my mind. I knew in the month I had in between that I wanted to get faster. I read a lot of speedy peoples’ blogs, I got some help from the amazing Margot of The Faster Bunny, and I ran with some speedy friends, but pretty much I made up my own plan, just like I had the first time.

Apparently, something worked? I am, of course, no expert on speed, or running at all for that matter, but I figured I would at least share some of what I did that seemed to work out pretty well, and maybe it will help other turtles out there like me! 🙂

Here is what a typical week looked like:

Mon: 3 mi with sprint intervals
I kept my intervals really short–like the distance between driveways. I didn’t go for any specific times, I just set out points of distance in my neighborhood and kept my jogging and my sprinting distances about even. I kept my jogging pace around a 10 min/mi and just went as fast as humanly possible on the sprints. I don’t know is this is good, bad, or if there is even a technical term, but I did it, and I felt like it kicked my butt and was really helpful.

Tues: Spin
I love spin, and I really think it helps with my running. My favorite teacher Linda is a racing machine and she also believes this. The woman is 50, does several races a year (including tris), and teaches like 20 gym classes per week. If she told me standing on my head would help, you better believe I’d be posting upside down right now.

Wed: 5-6 mi tempo run
Most of these did not end up being tempos because I ran with speedy gonzales AKA Ashley who runs at a 7:30 pace. We would warm up for a mile around a 10 min pace, run the first “tempo” mile around where I thought I should be–like 9:10ish–and then negative split from there, then end up with a cool down mile. These runs killed me, but this girl got me to run a 7:33 mile!!!! Granted I made her stop 3 times because my lungs felt like they were on fire and my whole body was going to burn down with them, but even so, it was the fastest I have ever run. Running with fast people is pretty much the secret to running fast yourself. In my expert opinion.

Thurs: Rest or bike ride
Rest is nice. Bike rides are fun.

Fri: Long run
I only really did 2 long runs, but they were good ones. 15 and 12. I think going beyond the race distance gave me more confidence. I knew that I could, in fact, run longer than 13 miles, so I could actually push it a little during those 13 and not spend all my time worrying about the distance. The last 2 miles of my 15 mi run were ridiculously hard, but it may be my favorite long run I’ve done, and even though I don’t plan on training for a full for a while, I can’t wait to complete some new PDRs just because I want to!

Sat: Rest or bike ride
See Thurs.

Sun: Spin
Even with perfect weather and a bike of my own, I am still inspired to spin twice a week. That’s how good Linda is!

So, how is this different from my first training plan? You know, the other one that I just decided I was smart enough to create on my own even though I had never run before. Well, that one was totally focused on distance for me. I ran 3x a week, with two 3-4 mi runs and one long run. I tried to get faster on the short ones, and worked on having negative splits, but did absolutely no legit speed training. I thought you just got faster by running more, and I did because it was so new to me, but this time around, speed was my main focus. I feel like in my first plan, the miles mid week were more like junk miles because they had no plan, and no real purpose. My very favorite running blog taught me that every run should have a purpose.

So there you have it. I still don’t know if any of this is good, or right, or whatever, but I know that I shocked myself on Sunday, and that I am beyond excited for what I can accomplish in the future. Which brings me to the question….

Now what???

Well, there is a very small tri that I’m planning on doing with Nicole at the end of March. I am planning on the Firefly Run, and Pat’s Run in April, and I am this close to registering for the Disneyland 1/2 in September. But I want something more than that, and I want it sooner. It is kind of killing me that there is no full marathon I can sign up for right now, and I really want to do one more half before the weather turns to burn. I feel like I need a big goal to work towards that will happen soon. Any suggestions? I’m already antsy! This running thing is like crack.

 

 

Why I Run

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Last Friday, I ran 15 miles for the first time ever. I was, of course, thrilled and wanted to post about it right away, but during the run, a million thoughts went through my head that I wanted to write about, so I waited and then we went to Disneyland, and I waited to put my thoughts together, and here we are over a week later and I still haven’t written about it. Whoops.

This run was different because every distance I had done up until this point was clearly in preparation to be able to run 13.1 miles on January 15th. Well, you don’t need to run 15 to know you can run 13. I chose, for no other reason than the fact that I wanted to, to run 15 miles. Crazy? Probably. It’s funny because the first 10 miles went so unbelievably well. This was my first long run since PF Chang’s and I was trying to listen to what the training plans say about taking your long runs nice and slow. Steve even came with me on his bike and rode next to me for the entire distance which was awesome! Around mile 7 I felt so good that I began to even consider going a longer distance (did I mention that I’m crazy?), but of course around mile 10, I started to feel it and get tired.

By mile 13, I just really wanted to be finished, and by mile 14 I was yelling and cursing at Steve asking him why I ever decided to do this in the first place. But then, that made me really thing–why?? I mean, of course I knew a few reasons:

  • I feel awesome and accomplished every time I conquer a new distance or hit a speed goal.
  • It is so much better than any piece of cardio equipment.
  • I love the social aspect of being outdoors with friends and getting my work out in at the same time.
  • It makes me feel like a little bit of a bad ass to walk around saying “Oh yeah, I ran ___ miles today.”

But I also know that none of those are the biggest reason deep down. I started to think about my attitude and feelings towards food, exercise and my body when I began running in October. They were vastly different than they are now. Going out to eat caused me to go into a panic. I meticulously counted every single calorie. My entire view of my body, and sometimes my worth, was based on whatever number the scale read that morning. I was absolutely miserable.

Then I started running. And my number-focused mind started seeing clear numerical results in something other than the scale. Something much more within my control. I am someone who has a hard time believing they have achieved something. It’s like my brain requires evidence. Proof. Facts. I feel like that is how I got so wrapped into what the scale said when I started losing weight. I would get on and see the evidence of my efforts. Until that stopped, and no matter how hard I worked, I had nothing to show for it the scale didn’t show it. Now I have a place where I can see my hard work adding up and paying off. It’s apparent in so many ways, but when I am lacking in confidence and self doubt sneaks in, I still have that proof in numbers that no one can’t argue with that I have accomplished something.

I realized while running that last mile that at moments felt like torture, that more than all of the pain and exhaustion, I felt free. Running gives me freedom. And I realized just how big of a blessing it has been on my life, and how lucky I am to have found something positive that brings me a sense of joy and accomplishment.

Then yesterday I ran 12 miles, and you know what? It really sucked. It was my first long run that I legitimately ended feeling like it sucked. I wore the wrong shorts and had no body glide and by half way through, my inner thighs were rubbed raw and I had to call my step dad to come and pick me up. I thought maybe the little break at the half way point would make the next 6 miles easier, but it made them like a million times harder. By the time I got to my house, the last thing I felt like doing was going back out and running more, but I went out and my legs felt like lead. I had to get my body warmed up all over again and it was already tired, and I was not happy about it.

Then of course my ipod and headphones kept getting tangled in my camelback and falling out and getting in my way, and at one point I literally stopped and repeated the F word about 6 times before giving myself a little pep talk that I had to finish whether I liked it or not, and it would suck a lot less if I could get a freakin attitude adjustment! I told myself to pull it together, and I finished my damn 12 miles, but I was not happy about it. I was grumpy and cranky that it hadn’t gone well, and I felt frustrated and of course on top of all of it, my achilles tendons were hurting worse than they have hurt in a long time. Okay, you get the point, it really sucked.

But….

I finished.

It would have been so easy to give up at the 6 mile mark when I had to come home and change, but I made a commitment, and I remembered all of those feelings that came to the surface the week before, and even though I did not necessarily enjoy this particular run, it was that discovery of why that powered me through, and in the end I felt a different kind of pride. I felt proud for not giving up when I easily could have, and it only further cemented the sense of freedom I discovered the week before.

And that is why I run, and why I think I will always run. Every day I am beyond thankful that I have a body that is capable of carrying me for miles at a time. I am strong, healthy and capable regardless of whether or not I actually ever make it to my “goal weight”. I have bigger and better goals these days!

My Attempt at Speed Training

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In case you couldn’t tell by my 10+ min/miles in long distances, I am kind of a slow runner. That’s okay. I am also a very new and inexperienced runner, and for almost the entire time I have been running, my focus has been on endurance and working towards long distance. Now that I know that I can, in fact, run at least half of a really long distance, I want to learn how to do it at the speed of light! I also have pretty much no idea what I’m doing.

The other day, I was reading Monica’s blog when I saw a speed work out her awesome, ridiculously fast friend Margot had given her. It looked really awesome and challenging and I left a comment saying that I wanted Margot to be my friend too. Well, turns out Margot really is the nicest person on Earth, because she graciously offered to give me all sorts of amazing advice with lots of great ideas on how to train for speed. Aside from being overwhelmed by her kindness and willingness to help a sister out, I was so excited to put some of it to use!

One thing I hadn’t totally understood was how to do a tempo run. I just read blogs where people say they did one and there is usually a warm-up mile and some faster ones and a cool down, so I was like “Okay, I run fast in the middle”, but Margot explained that there are lots of different ways to do it (for example to sets of two miles each), and that the “fast” time should be at half marathon goal pace. She also explained that the purpose of these runs is to lower the idea of what your comfortable pace is. That makes sense, because when I do my sprint intervals, it is never something I can maintain. I like the idea of having to do a few miles at a pace that feels fast and figuring out how to maintain that so that it eventually becomes comfortable.

I also read a lot of people suggesting running with faster people. Yesterday I had a running date with my new friend Ashley who works in my physical therapy office. The plan was to do a mile warm up, then 3 tempo miles at 9:15, then cool down for the last mile. I had never run with Ashley before, and so towards the beginning I asked what pace she usually runs at and she responded “I usually do about 3 miles at a 7:30 pace.” F. Commence me being scared for my life and certain that I would embarrass myself. I had told her my goals at the beginning so I guess she knew we would be going at snails pace, but I suddenly felt a ton of pressure not to suck.

We completed our warm up at a nice easy pace, then kicked it up and completed mile 2 at 9:13. Right on pace for where I wanted to be. During mile 3, I could feel that we had picked it up a little bit, but I just focused on keeping up and trying to hide the fact that I was already feeling tired and we hadn’t even hit 5k. We finished mile 3 in 8:58, and I was feeling pretty proud of myself, but also worried about maintaining that pace for another mile when Ashley said “Okay, let’s make this one faster!” Yes, coach! Somewhere along this mile, I told her about my 2012 goal of running a 7:59 mile, and that I had never been able to break the 8 min/mi point. She seemed convinced that I could do it sooner than I think, and pushed me into high gear for all of mile 4. So many times I wanted to slow down, or just plain out quit, but having her there pushed me and kept me accountable. We finished mile 4 in 8:07, then I requested a stop to catch my breath before doing a cool down jog for the last 1/2 mile.

Is it just me, or does anyone else hate what the warm up and cool down do to your average pace by the end of the run? It would look so much more impressive with out thoe 10 min/mi paces tacked onto the outside!

So, I’m not sure that actually ended up being a tempo run, but it was definitely a fast (for me) and challenging training run. I kind of hated it in the moment, but I spent the entire rest of the day feeling proud of myself and wanting to tell everyone–the same way I feel after completing a PDR. I am excited that the speed work outs can be so rewarding, and give me that same feeling of awesomeness! I had been a little bummed about feeling like I have to wait until next year to do a full marathon, but this makes me excited to focus on speed and hopefully make some 5K and 10K PRs along the way! I also hope that this means that by the time I do run a marathon, I will be able to do it a decent pace, and that I will feel more prepared.

Until then, I am going to try some more of the ideas super speedy Margot gave me (seriously, this girl just ran a 5K in like 20:20 or something nuts like that!), and continue to force speed demon Ashley to run with me before PT on Wednesdays, and also try to keep running with my speedy friend Nicole!

 

My New Training Plan

· by ·

After completing my first half marathon, the big question on my mind was where is the food?!?!?! what next? Even after registering for The Lost Dutchman 1/2 Marathon, I wasn’t really sure what to do with my training plan now that I already know I can run the distance. All I know is this time I’d like to run it faster, and soon I’d like to run one in less than 2:10, and maybe by next year in 1:XX:XX!!! Is that enough goals yet? Well, I’ve made a decision on one more, but I’ll get to that in a minute. The real question became

How do I get faster and more comfortable with the distance??

I read a lot of blogs. A lot of blogs. Those links are some fabulous ladies that are speedier than me and inspire me to work harder and run faster. I looked at the types of things they seem to do, and tried to copy. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! So, I made a plan, scheduled everything into my phone until race week, and aside from a couple skipped work outs due to sickness, I have stayed on track so far and it’s been going really well!

Here is my plan. It’s the same days every week so it’s easy to remember. Plus every morning my phone goes off and says things like “Yo, bitch! Do a speed run.” Okay, it doesn’t curse at me, but I kind of wish I would have set it to say that because it makes me laugh.

Mondays–Speed work. 3 miles with sprint intervals.

I only kind of thought I was going to die. Sprint intervals are hard, but I can already feel just how worth it they are! Sub 9 min/mi average pace?! That is speedy for me!

Tuesdays–Spin

This was seriously the sweatiest class ever. I hadn't felt like I'd gone to class and really given 100% in a while because I was taking it easy before the race and then I got sick, but yesterday I totally felt like I was back and resumed my flat road at gear 10!

Wednesdays–Tempo run with warm up mile, middle miles shooting for 9 min/mi, then a cool down. That is a tempo run, right? I’m still not sure I completely understand haha. These change distance. Today was 4 (well, 4 cut slightly short on the cool down–whoops), next week is 5, then 6, then 5.

Warm up at 10:17, then 9:01, 8:43 (yes!!!!), and a cool down at 10:02. Not too shabby.

Thursdays–off/upper body

Fridays–Long run. This Friday is 15 miles. Good lord. Anyone want to come along?? Even just for a few miles?? Please! Next week is 12, and then I don’t remember.

Saturdays–off/upper body–maybe if I give myself 2 possible days to strength train I will actually make one of them happen!

Sundays–Spin

I am really loving this so far because it gives every work out a specific purpose. If I just have to do a medium length run, it is easy to skip and say “Well, I know I can run 4 miles, so what is that really going to do for me? I’ll skip it today.” Today I didn’t feel like going. I wanted to be lazy. I laid around in bed for a long time being lazy, and you know what? It felt pretty amazing and I kinda needed it, but that didn’t mean I had an excuse not to make my run happen, and I knew if I had to do a 5 mile tempo run next week, I would be unprepared if I didn’t do 4(ish) miles today.

This will get me through to a hopefully awesome finish at The Lost Dutchman, and then I’m not 100% sure what is on the agenda. I was all but ready to sign up for the RnR San Diego full marathon, but then I was talking to my spin teacher about racing and wanting to sign up for a full and I mentioned San Diego and she told me it was miserable and slanted and humid and that she would NEVER do it again. She strongly suggested that I not do it for my first marathon, and I plan on taking her advice. I would really like to run a full this year, but it feels like the timing just will not be right, and like my best bet is to wait and do the full at PF Chang’s next year. That will give me perfect training weather and a lot of time in between to improve as a distance runner and hopefully complete more half marathons. I wish it wasn’t so far away, but it will be here before I know it and I’m sure I will have lots to do in the meantime!

Apparently, I’m Nuts

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Okay, not apparently. Let’s be honest–we all knew I was crazy right? Well, I woke up this morning with a freaking cold, so I think for the first time in my entire adult life I called in sick to work. My amazing, pretty, lovely, talented friend and boss Emily was so sweet and helped a sister out so I could sit at home and baby myself and make sure I get better before Sunday. I’m trying not to freak out. I spent about $40 on supplies and I have no regrets. So far today I have drank two Emergen-Cs, taken a handful of echinacea, 3 or 4 Zicams, drank about 4 cups of tea and approximately my body weight in water. Dear sickness: you cannot ruin this for me. Nice try. Love, Ari.

So apparently now that I sat around the house all day (how do people do that?! I was so bored!), I have a ridiculous amount of pent up energy that I have focused into obsessing, freaking out over, and talking non stop about the race. Is that normal? I used to be one of those people you didn’t want to be around because I would constantly analyze the calorie content of every food and couldn’t keep myself from talking about food and calories like word vomit. Now, I can’t not talk about this race. Why is anyone friends with me? Seriously. I have this crazy one track mind and when it focuses on something, it’s like the rest of the world ceases to exist.

So far tonight I’ve read about 10 different half marathon recaps, done a whole lot of number crunching, and thanks to my amazing friend Nicole, discovered this super amazing site! Basically, you put in your goal finish time and then it creates a bracelet that you can print out and wear during the race that tells you where you need to be for every single mile to ensure meeting your goal! I need to be right around 10:30. The only thing that makes me nervous is that I think stopping for street lights gives me a lot more time to breathe than I realize. When the light says don’t walk, I also do not run, but since I’m not running, obviously I pause little Garmie. That’s the garmin’s nickname. Judge away. Anyway, I wonder without those little street light breaks, if I will still be able to maintain my pace.

Really, more than anything, I’m actually excited. I worked hard for this. I ran over 200 training miles, I cross trained, I foam rolled, I felt less guilty about eating bread–I mean that was the best part 😉 I’m ready. And it’s my first time so if I don’t meet a time goal, the important thing is I finish. When I signed up, my only goal was to cross the finish line. I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait!

Half Marathon Playlist

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This morning I woke up at 3:30am convinced today was Sunday. The good news is, I woke up excited and happy and pumped. Then I realized it wasn’t Sunday and thought it was Saturday. Then I realized it was only Thursday, was totally bummed and went back to sleep. I actually ended up getting my first decent night’s sleep in days and it felt so wonderful! I spent a good portion of my morning being lazy before heading out for my last training run.

Two miles is a weird distance. I started, and then it was time to turn around. I felt so confused. I felt good, but not like yesterday where I felt fantastic. I’m nervous. Did I mention that? Taper week is weird. I know they say “trust in your training”, but how do I know that my training is trustworthy? I mean for the most part, I made it up, and this is my first time at this so perhaps my training totally sucked. Or on the other hand, perhaps I am so unaware of how amazing it was and I will bust out my half marathon in record time! Hah. Positive thoughts, right? 🙂

Last night, I spent hours took no time at all creating the perfect half marathon playlist. Seriously, record time. I am so fast at everything these days 🙂 I tried to be smart and figure out how to import the list to my blog, but that’s a little too high tech for me, so now I will–in record time!–type it all out instead. You can judge my music. It’s okay. Sometimes I do too,

  1. Rockin’ Robin by Michael Jackson
  2. I Want it That Way by The Backstreet Boys
  3. Fighter by Christina Aguilera
  4. Sisters are Doin’ it for Themselves by The Eurythmics (suggested by Sylvi)
  5. Paper Planes by M.I.A
  6. Summer Girls by LFO (to remind me of camp, Mac and Sylvi)
  7. Send Me On My Way by Rusted Root
  8. Dirrty by Christina Aguilera
  9. MmmBop by Hanson (to remind me that I have awesome taste in music)
  10. Empire State of Mind by Jay Z and Alicia Keys
  11. 96,000 from In the Heights (suggested by Heather)
  12. The Story by Sara Ramirez
  13. Foundations by Kate Nash
  14. Baby by Justin Bieber (to remind me that I’m really mature)
  15. Jen Doesn’t Like Me Anymore by Less Than Jake
  16. It’s Your Wedding Day from The Wedding Singer
  17. Kiss That Girl by Kate Nash
  18. Come On Eileen by Save Ferris (to remind me of Bethy)
  19. Stand Out from A Goofy Movie (suggested by Heather and Megs)
  20. Born This Way by Lady Gaga
  21. Let’s Hear it for the Boy from Footloose
  22. Defying Gravity from Wicked (because I don’t actually hate it as much as the musical theatre snob in me pretends to)
  23. Turn Me On by David Guetta and Nicki Minaj
  24. Life’s a Happy Song from The Muppets
  25. Aint No Mountain High Enough from Sister Act (how could this playlist NOT include Sister Act?!)
  26. The Edge of Glory by Lady Gaga
  27. Brand New Day from The Wiz
  28. La Vie Boheme B from Rent
  29. 121 from A Goofy Movie (suggested by Heather and Megs)
  30. Blackout from In The Heights
  31. Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
  32. Set Fire to the Rain by Adele
  33. Proud Mary by Ike and Tina Turner (to remind me of my favorite spin teacher who is 50, ran a marathon and 2 days later taught spin–I want to be her when I grow up!)
  34. Footloose from Footloose
  35. ABC by Michael Jackson

That’s about 2 hours and 22 minutes (whoa lots of 2s!) of music. The hope is that I will finish to Proud Mary because how awesome would that be? But Footloose is my fav running song, so that one would be pretty good too. I do not want ABC to play. I put it there because I like it, so if I do happen to get to it, maybe I won’t be totally bummed, but I do NOT want it to play.

Okay, I know my goal should just be to finish, and originally it was. Then I was like “Okay, I just want to finish in under 2:30. I can totally do that.” Then somehow I got totally stuck on this goal of sub 2:20. Not super fast by any means, but still something that I feel not too sure of. I will be happy to finish regardless, but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t start to get a little competitive with myself.

Now for a kind of embarrassing question. If you would rather go the rest of your life without reading (not in a ton of detail–I promise) about my running and bathroom trips, then please stop reading now. It’s okay–no hard feelings!

Runner friends, I need help. Almost every single time I run, I have to go to the bathroom between mile .5 and mile 2. It almost always happens in the very beginning, but it isn’t like a mild I’ll go when I can, it’s like “Where the hell is the nearest bathroom?!?!?!” Whether I eat, don’t eat, take my thyroid meds, wait to take them (yes, I tried not taking them to see if it would help), or whatever I do, I just have to go. Thank goodness it has not happened during any of my races so far. That seems like a miracle, because anyone I’ve run with has experienced waiting outside while I go into sketchy bathrooms. Please oh please, tell me how to make sure this doesn’t happen during this race and tank my finish time!!! Do I drink some coffee and jog around the block to make sure it happens before? Do I just wait and hope for the best? Do I pack TP and squat behind a tree? Yes, that is a legitimate question. I do not want to waste time in bathroom lines. Please, oh please, help!

 

 

Inspired

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I just read the best blog post. Seriously, you need to read it. Kathleen talks about something that I very clearly hearing over and over in Kelly Q’s class–opening yourself up, being vulnerable and letting others in. This could not have come at a more important time, and I felt so inspired by her post that I wanted to write about it too.

In the past month or so I have noticed the way I react to kindness. Someone tells me “Good job!” or “Wow, you’re running a half marathon? That is so impressive.” and I immediately jump to “Oh thanks, if only _____ had been better…” or “Yes, but I’m really slow, so it’s not really that big of a deal.” What the F, self? What is that? What am I afraid of? I sit and reflect for hours on every piece of negative criticism I receive, but push away so many attempts at kindness. I get so uncomfortable when people compliment me. I feel like I don’t know what to say and like I owe them some kind of epic reaction to thank them for their kind words. Well, that’s stupid. I don’t expect anything when I compliment others. Is it so terrible to think that I might actually be kind of awesome and people have no motives for their compliments other than to be a part of my life?

There’s been some life challenges that have popped up recently that I don’t feel comfortable getting into detail about–really with anyone for that matter. But today instead of crying alone in my car on the way to my work meeting, I called my beautiful, amazing friend Lisa and told her that I needed to talk to her, but essentially couldn’t tell her anything. She just listened and made me feel important and like my feelings mattered and by the end of the conversation, I felt a million times better. If I hadn’t opened myself up and let her help, I’d probably still be feeling super crappy. It’s easy to forget how wonderful we all are and how many people in our lives would jump at the opportunity to be whatever we need them to be, if we could only be brave enough to ask, because we all know that actually telling someone what you need can be downright terrifying, but even more so rewarding.

This morning I felt totally blah. I was wide awake at 6:30 and had plenty of time to go for my scheduled run, but I layed in bed and tossed and turned and then was late to a meeting. Normally I have this complex where if I don’t get my workout–especially a run–done first thing, then I completely let go of the whole idea and move on with my day and it never happens, but today I came home and the weather was perfect and I didn’t have anything that I couldn’t put off for 30 minutes, so I laced up and went for a beautiful run around the lake at 11am. Let me tell you, this whole running at an easy pace for taper week is awesome! I felt great the entire time, and it just felt so relaxing–exactly what I needed! And actually–this is probably the only time in my life I will ever use this sentence—I meant to run slower. I thought an easy pace for me was like a 10:30-10:45 min/mi, but 10:00 felt easy! Yay!! Now to finish an other 10 at that speed… 😉

Now to get some choreography done and audition Bravo! kiddos tonight. Then I have a date with a super cute boy who is making me dinner 🙂

Food for thought: What makes opening up to others scary for you? What amazing payoffs have come from it when you did?

 

What If…?

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Well, life didn’t seem to waste any time getting busy again. I thought this week was going to be super mellow, but already I feel slightly behind–whoops. Yesterday I did get to spend some time on my to do lists at Starbucks.

Look at all of those tasks checked off! I love checking things off. It's one of the best feelings ever. So now that I said that, I kind of wonder how I have any friends when my greatest happiness is making check marks...

I actually got quite a few of this new list checked off too. Yesssss!

And I still found time to cook a seriously awesome dinner.

Today was filled with spinning, working (including an AWESOME rehearsal that I am feeling fab about!) and family. Busy busy busy, but all good stuff.

So here’s what I’ve been feeling confused by: Eating healthy and eating carbs. I mean, I eat carbs. I love carbs. I know that whole grains are healthy. However, this week I’ve been trying to clean up my diet a little for several reasons (PF Chang’s, post holiday blah feeling, post vacation blah feeling, etc.), but when I begin to think of healthy meals–especially dinner–my mind focuses immediately on lean protein and veggies. Then I have to remind myself to eat carbs so I choose sweet potatoes instead of green veggies and call it good. I wish there was just a clear cut plan: The Entire Week Leading Up To Your First Half Marathon, If You Are 26 Years Old, Slow, Mildly Funny, and Jewish You Should Eat _______. Can someone create that for me please?

Also, I realized one more reason why I am so freaking nervous. My 3 previous races, I was running a distance I had already conquered. 3.1, 6.2. I knew I could complete those distance. I know can’t is not an option, but I can’t help that nagging piece in the back of my mind that wonders what if…?

Okay, but for real, it’s going to be fine. It’s going to be better than fine. It’s going to be amazing. I just wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have a little anxiety about it 😉

Half Marathon Week & Movie Thoughts

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It feels a little surreal. In case I haven’t beat this thought into the ground, in October I could barely run 3 miles. I had given up the idea of running because I was so sure I couldn’t do it, but inspired by training for and completing the Susan G Komen 5K, I nervously signed up to run my first half marathon. Every night before a long run I would toss and turn all night long because I was so nervous that I wouldn’t be able to complete my mileage the next morning, and it wasn’t until I hit double digits in my first solo long run, that I finally started to believe that I can do this.

So here we are. The race is exactly 1 week away and I am filled with nervousness, anxiety, excitement, and anticipation. Yesterday Kara and I completed out last “long” run in our training.

Check out that time! That is speedy for me!!

It felt really good. I’ve been feeling so slow and sluggish, and it was really nice to prove to myself that I could still maintain a decent pace. I almost feel like I don’t know what to do with myself this week. I know I’m supposed to cut back on my mileage, but it just feels so weird. I started today at the gym with Kara doing some upper body/abs and an awesome spin class with Linda my favorite spin teacher!

My plan for work outs for the rest of the week is this:

Monday–3 miles (hopefully I’ll take my favorite furry running buddy with me!) + physical therapy (Yes, my physical therapy is a legit work out. I get all kinds of sweaty.)

Tuesday–Linda’s spin class

Wednesday–Sentimental 2-3 miles around the duckies with Kara

Thursday–Yoga. I found a nice looking studio right by the duck lake, so I’m hoping to find a easy class to take that will get me nice and loosened up.

Friday–Long walk with the puppies

Saturday–Off

Sunday–Holy crap.

 

Anyone have any brilliant thoughts or advice on that plan?

In other news, I’ve been staying on top of my award season movie list! In the past week, I’ve seen:

The Descendants

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I absolutely loved everything about this movie. I laughed, I cried, and I was engaged the entire time. I was also really impressed with how human and vulnerable George Clooney was the entire film. I’ve never been his biggest fan, but I loved him in this movie. If you like movies about humans/life/relationships, then this is a must see!

50/50

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I almost couldn’t believe that after seeing The Descendants, I was seeing something equally incredible. I don’t know if a movie has ever been so equally hilarious and moving at the same time. I laughed so loudly, then 10 minutes later I was a sobbing mess. I really appreciate how both of the last two films have found the humor in movies that could have been just depression city. Life is funny, and even life’s tragedies are sometimes funny. If you like movies at all, see 50/50.

Moneyball

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I liked Moneyball. It’s not a typical “Ari movie”, but I did enjoy it. I thought the whole statistical concept was interesting, and surprisingly found myself with an emotional connection to Billy Beane at the end of the film. If you like sports movies, you will probably like Moneyball more than me, but I enjoyed it and was glad I saw it.

Also friends, the dollar theater is where it’s at! Even though it doesn’t cost $1 anymore, Steve and I saw two movies yesterday and paid less money all together (4 tickets) than we paid for one ticket to see The Descendants. Thank you Tempe Cinemas! Too bad your seats are super uncomfortable, but I guess that’s what you get for $3 a ticket 😉

 

 

Leavin’ on a Jet Plane

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Its here, its here!!!! My vacation is finally here! I have a confession. When I bought this plane ticket I knew this wpuld be towards the end of my half marathon training so I scheduled the flight specifically to be able to get a long run in this morning before I left because by the time I get back it will be less than 2 weeks until the race! So Kara and I got our run on at 7am.

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I don’t know what it is, but my last 2 long runs I have felt so sluggish. Every time I think I’m going fast, I look down and see like 10:30 on my garmin. Blecchhh. Maybe my body is just ready for a little bit of a break.

After the run, I packed at lightening speed, got coffee and got to the airport. Steve and I are just waiting for our flight to board!!!

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I figured this was a good time to try out blogging from my phone. Not my fav, but definitely convenient for traveling.

Alright, I’m off to Boston! Yay!!!!!

Steak, Potatoes and Beer, Oh My

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I am a person who loves to be busy. Some may say I’m a workaholic, but I am MORE than happy to keep busy by celebrating and spending time with family and friends. Is there a job where they pay you to do that? I think what I do is actually probably as close as you get. Lucky me 🙂

Let’s catch up, shall we? 2 days before Christmas started out with the 2nd to last long run Kara and I will do before PF Chang’s. We planned for 10, but Kara has been sick for like 2 months straight and after 8 she just wasn’t feeling it, so we ended up walking the last 2 miles home. At this point, we’re ready and the ending walk where we were just able to chat felt really nice actually. We ended up covering just under 10 miles total in about 2 hours. Still not too shabby.

The past few weeks after my long run, I’ve had the craziest cravings for steak. I don’t really eat red meat, but the evening after a run, all I want to eat is a big, juicy fillet! Well, Friday night I finally got what I had been craving! Kara, Charlie and Hermano met us at our house before heading out to Whole Foods to pick out our meat and our drinks. I love the type of dinner party where everyone picks their own meat, Steve grills it all up and I make the side dish. So simple, and much cheaper than trying to buy steak for everyone (ummm Steve’s steak was $30).

Hermano and I each picked out a fillet, although his was 13 oz and mine was 6 haha. Steve and Kara both picked out massive rib eyes. Charlie picked out some chicken, and Hermano also picked up a pound of macaroni and cheese because he was skeptical about the side dish I had planned.

Kara and I also picked out some cherry stout and cappuccino stout. Delicious.

As soon as we were home and we had popped open our beers, Steve fired up the grill and I got to work on the taters.

Hard at work. Obviously. I actually think I was trying to put my hair up, maybe?

Soon enough, dinner was served!

That, my friends, is what a 1.3lb piece of meat looks like.

Hermano's pound of steak and pound of macaroni.

After trying my Maple Bacon Sweet Potatoes (don’t you worry, recipe is coming soon), Hermano regretted his decision not to get some himself, so 2 lbs of food later, he went back to get some.

Yes, that is the pan I cooked them in. Apparently I need to hit my growth spurt so I can polish off pounds of food at a time and still be thin.

Then, 2 beers later (apparently I’m a light weight because that was seriously all I could handle), we were watching The Muppets Christmas Carol and I decided to make dessert. Very tipsy, recipe-less dessert. I didn’t measure a single thing and I thought it was going to be a disaster, but the entire 8×8 pan was gone in about 10 minutes flat. No pictures. No recipe. Sad day. I do remember it included mashed banana, caramel and white chocolate chips. Maybe one day I’ll try to recreate it 🙂

 

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