Wednesday, March 16, 2011

13.1

T-Minus 10 days and counting. 10 Days!! 10 Days until I run the longest race of my life. Am I nervous? For sure? Do I think I can make it? I sure do hope so. I must admit, I’ve really been slacking on my training lately. I have a ½ Marathon Training Schedule that started back in the beginning of January. I have it at my desk at work so every day I can see what’s on tap for that day, that week. I started off strongish… the schedule asked me to run 4 times a week, cross train 1 day and stretch and strengthen 1 day. Yeah, so I only have 1 day off?? I nixed that right away and stuck to a 3 day/week run w/ strengthening 1 of those days.

In the beginning, it wasn’t a problem. My weekday runs were short, starting at 3 miles and increasing ½ mile every 2 weeks. My weekend runs started at 4 miles, and increased by a mile every 2 weeks. Even though it was cold, and I was forced to run the treadmill a lot, I didn’t mind it much. Over the summer, while I was training for Ragnar, I would do the same, but even added in an extra evening run with my coworkers. So if I could do that, this shouldn't be a problem. I started going to the gym after work instead of before and although the gym was more crowded, and sometimes I had to wait for a treadmill, I found I had a lot more energy and it went by much faster.

As February came through, my mileage increased. My runs were getting longer and I was honestly just tired of running. I spent some time on the elliptical every other week instead of doing a run. It’s still strengthening my legs and cardio, so it counts, right? So where am I now? Slacking even more than ever, even though the race is less than 2 weeks away. I was supposed to run 9 miles last week – I didn’t. I told myself I would so it this past weekend, AFTER my 8k race. I didn’t. I was a little tired and although the weather was PERFECT, I couldn’t bring myself to spend 1.5 hours of my lazy afternoon running. I ran a race, that was good enough.

Last night, I was planning on running a short 4-5 mile run after work, foregoing the gym since we now have sunlight longer. Did that happen? Nope. It was a little rainy and kinda cold, so that was my excuse. I do plan on going to the gym tonight, but not to run. I just want to do strength. I plan on tackling a 10 mile run this weekend – I HAVE to. I have to prepare myself for this 13 mile run and having my longest distance only 8 miles, that hardly helps me out.

Part of me feels that since I’m this close to the race, anything I do now won’t really matter. It’s like cramming for an exam. If you don’t know the stuff by the night before, you aren’t going to know it. So what’s the point in running anymore before the race? I’m close enough, right? But the other part is telling me, “Stop being such a slacker!” I paid a lot of money for this race, and I don’t intend on running another. So this is my shot, I have to give it my all. I don’t necessarily have a finish time in mind, I just want to run the whole thing. But I know what I SHOULD finish the race in, and I’m worried that won’t happen because I didn’t train hard enough. I don’t want all this hard work to be all for naught… but I’ve literally run out. I’m so over this running right now that I can’t wait for this race to be done so I can take a break.

I know after the race I will feel an amazing sense of accomplishment, and I am really looking forward to it. But for now, the running isn’t fun for me – the training isn’t fun. And I’m ready to move on.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Everything DOES happen for a reason

It really does. I've had instances in my life where I had felt this was true before... and now we're back around to that point. My place of employment is very fortunate to work on projects that give employees the opportunity to travel around the world. It's pretty awesome and I was elated when I was informed that I would be traveling to India for a project. The news came to me back in the beginning of December and I was "scheduled" to travel in January. Awesome - I have nothing going on in January so this would be perfect. Unfortunately, January came and went and I was not in India. The trip will happen, but we're still sorting through some business stuff before we can determine when we will head over there. But here's where the saying comes in...

Had I gone to India when I was originally slated too, I would have missed my husband's AWESOME show in Baltimore. And if I had missed my husband's AWESOME show in Baltimore, I would have missed the surprise visit from my brother-in-law. He lives in Seattle. Needless to say I was pretty gosh darn excited when I saw him and I was happy to be there. But here's the kicker. My trip to India would have included a side fun trip, after our work was done. To Egypt. I would be in Egypt right now if everything had gone according to plan. Wow. Now I know that my husband isn't the only person happy that I'm here and not there right now. Especially given the current state of violence :/

So is Egypt still on my agenda when I finally get over there? That's still TBD... Don't worry, I will make a safe and smart decision when it comes to my side travel. And if I don't make it to Egypt this time around, I still have plenty of years left to check out the Pyramids and the Sphinx. I just honestly hope all the civil unrest ends soon. I've got a friend staying over there and I'm thinking of her every day.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

In my opinion...

LaVar was being a little too sensitive. Let me give you the background to this...

Lately I've been listening to the LaVar and Dukes show on 106.7 The Fan every evening on my way home from work. It's a sports talk show with LaVar Arrington and Chad Dukes (from The Junkies) where they discuss the current issues in sports and what's being talked about the most. Of course it's mostly been about the Redskins and the drama and what's in store for next season. I got to thinking, "What will they talk about when football season is over? Will I still listen because I know I don't care much about NBA and MLB..."

The other night, they were talking about the NBA. Apparently there is something going on about too many tattoos in the NBA (really? who cares). But the NBA commissioner responded with his take on tattoos, comparing them to "fad" fashion statements like afros and earrings.

http://www.yardbarker.com/nba/articles/david_stern_thinks_the_tattoo_phase_will_pass/3923404

Let me tell you, LaVar was up in arms about this. He kept commenting about David Stern being racist for including afros in this conversation. Really? Racist? I mean, I obviously don't have any experience or know what the societal implications of this hairstyle is, but as an outsider, I think he's being a little sensitive. I'm certain that the commissioner was simply stating a trend, and could have easily inserted ponytails or a bowl cut. I just don't see it as a racist comment, and this is just my own opinion. Plus, there are PLENTY of white people with afros too... so I just don't see what he was getting so upset about.

Relax LaVar.