Take 2

Annnnnnd... we're back.

If you are a runner, you understand how much it SUCKS to get injured. You find that when you're driving your eyes always seem to follow people jogging on the sidewalk. You silently curse them as you relive the incident that caused your injury all over again. Sound melodramatic? Well, it is.

Yes, I was injured. At the actual race I SCREWED my ankle at mile 8 by stepping in a pothole before dawn. I ran to mile 15 where I blew out my knee from the silly limp-run I was doing. No, I didn't finish.

So that was about 5 weeks ago. I had to give myself A) healing time B) mental recovery time. There was NOOO WAYYY I was going to be able to train all over again if I didn't take a brief time out. I feel rested, recovered, and re-motivated. 

I am going to try again. I considered picking up training at week 10 or so, just doing the intense half of training. However, I now think it might be best if I start from the very beginning. This will give me a stage of the process where I am just doing some light running, before hitting it hard again. Also, being "invested" is a very important component of running a marathon. So when you're at mile 19 of the big race you can say to yourself, "I've trained for 18 weeks, nothing will stop me." The alternative would be, "This blows; I'm dunzo." This time I believe I will attempt an intermediate training schedule. This will have longer and harder runs, and speed will become a factor.

So wish me luck and endurance as I start again. 

So we have about 5 weeks until the race. We ran 18 miles this past week. 18 MILES! I thought my legs were going to fall off. I simply could not imagine running an extra 8.2 miles on top of it... Training in Kansas over the break was considerably more difficult than running in Gainesville. Hilly terrain, single digit temperatures, and icy sidewalks (yes, I busted a few times). I think it's good I trained on a few hills, I've heard there's a killer bridge in the marathon course.

Now that the race is so close, it's easier to train harder. I know that if I don't train, I won't finish-and it's as easy as that. The real question is, If I do train- does that guarantee me to finish? haha, probably not. 

I'll post again after the 19 mile run this saturday.

The night before...

We're sitting in our hotel room... three miles from the starting line...

We visited the expo earlier, then we ate mountains of pasta. twas marvelous.

We're getting up at 440AM. The race starts at 6.

We're Ready. Get Excited.

Setbacks

Okay, I've fallen behind. 

I've experienced a string of poor luck health wise including a bad UTI that just wouldnt go away and possibly the worst stomach flu I've ever had. So yeah, I'm way behind now. But- there was nothing I could do, so ohhh welllll. 

Now its time to see how bad I want this. The half marathon is in one week, and I haven't ran in two. I figure I have the muscle memory to get me through the first ten miles, after that... its pure will power I guess.

This will be an interesting week. Wish me luck in my pavement smashing endeavors... I'll need it.

PS) Kathleen is owning the training like nobody's business.

PPS) So is Sophie.

So we are officially kicking ass. Its been a while since the last post, but we've been plowing through this training like lotti dotti. The six mile runs feel like the three mile runs used to feel. Its starting to feel like, we may get through this! Also a few weekends ago I watched the Rocky series, and I've been pumped ever since. In fact, I play his training song at the end of every run. Thats right, I'm THAT lame. But hey, whatever gets you across the finish line, right?

Today we ran 11 miles. It was amazing, and HEY that's just two miles short of a half-marathon! Speaking of half-marathons our Palm Beach race is in one month from yesterday. Its going to be awesome-possum so get excited. Anyways, at about the 8 mile mark of my run I got mixed in with runners from a 5k on campus. When I turned to run in a different direction they started yelling YOURE GOING THE WRONG WAYYY! It was kind of annoying but also rather hilarious.

Also, Sophie (my sister) has deided to join in on all this running fun. She's going to do half of the full marathon in Feb. WOOOOT. Since the race is on Feb 15, that means a Valentines Day CARB FEST. I'm already super excited about it. lol

OK so thats about it for updates. Thanks for all your song suggestions, and keep them coming! Let me see, I need a variety of good songs, others with great beats, and then I just need some that make me feel like a badass to be quite honest. Thanks for reading!

gettin harder...

3,5,3,9

So... this week was harder for me. I think the initial "IM GOING TO RUN MARATHON" high is wearing off and the realization of all the really hard work ahead is setting in... and its only the end of week 2.

However, I did experience something new and exciting. It's called a "runner's high." Basically it's extreme euphoria caused by endorphins released by runnnnnning. Yeah, it was nice.

The best advice I have received so far is: just keep running! and we're going to.

9 mile run on saturday. Wish Kathleen and I endurance and luck!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT.

One Week Down....

I don't know what to add to Ms. Mary's fabulous intro, except that Team Reciprocal has officially begun kicking ass- and (thanks to Mary) we're going be VERY well hydrated.


Woooooooooooo! I'm excited.