Running Stream of Consciousness

Ok, let's DO this!!  Ooh, Abba!  I love Abba!  This reminds me of Liz!  Liz will be running with me next week, that's going to be so much fun, I love running with Liz!  La-la-la, I got this, I can do this.  When I'm done with this I have to be quick because I have to take the kids's Christmas Card pictures before we go visit Santa.  Got it.  I'll be done running in under 30 minutes, half an hour to get myself ready, should be no problem.  That was really good cheesecake last night.  I shouldn't have eaten that.  I should run faster.  Let's go faster.  Ok, not that bad, I can handle this.  Yes, Divine Miss. M., I AM beautiful, damn it!!  Cheesecake and all!!  These earbuds are pretty cool, I don't even notice them in my ears like with the ones that come with the iPhone.  You know what would be really cool?  If I got Liz a pair of these, then we could both be listening to the same playlist while we run together.  I wonder if she'd be game for that.  Man, I'm really sweating, I should be close to my 2 miles now.  WHAT??!!  Only 0.6 miles so far??!!  This is ridiculous!!  I'm not even at a mile, I want to do 2 miles today, how on earth am I going to do 3.1 miles next week??!!  This is impossible, I am a total failure.   What was I thinking signing up for this stupid race?  I'm not a runner, I can't run things, I'm going to be so slow and Liz will want to be nice and stay with me but I'm just going to hold her back.  And she should really go for it because she's gotten really fast and I want her to PR this race...why is this song on here?  Nobody can run to this?  God, I can't even get a playlist right, I am an epic failure.  I hate running.  It's stupid.  I'm never running again, why do I DO this to myself??!!  Why, oh why does it have to be the quickest and most efficient way to burn calories and stay in shape??!!  Ugggghhhh!!  Will these 2 miles ever be OVER??!!  **sobbing**  OMG, Melissa Etheridge...yes, I run for hope, I run for life.  She's alive.  She beat cancer and is still kicking ass.  If she can beat cancer I can run 2 stupid miles.  Thank God I don't have cancer.  What if I have cancer?  I should have taken better care of myself.  I should have stopped smoking sooner, started eating better and exercising much sooner.  I should stop giving the kids hot dogs.  What if THEY have cancer??!!  OMG, I'm giving my kids cancer!!  **sobs more**  Ooh, 1.5 miles!!  Only half a mile to go!  That's not so bad! Yes Amy Steinberg, I should just keep on!!  Half a mile is nothing, I have done this tons of times.  I'm actually pretty amazing!  I can't believe I've even been able to run AT ALL with how sick I was as a kid, and I've done a whole bunch of 5K's.  There are so many people out there who can't even WALK a mile and here I am, sad that running 2 miles is hard.  Get over yourself Bel.  Put on your big girl pants, suck it up, and just run.  I am sooooo lucky.  I have a treadmill in my fucking basement.  I can run whenever I want.  I should run every day.  EVERY.  DAY.  Don't take this for granted, you won't have this time home forever.  Ooh!!  I'm almost done!!  1.85 miles!!  Let's go!!  Lets push it as fast as I can go!!  I can run at an 8 no problem!!  I can do this!  I can do this!!  I DID IT!!!  YES!!!    That was an amazing workout!!  I really need to do this again tomorrow.

And this, my friends, is why I cannot run a marathon.  This was me left alone with my thoughts for 2 miles.  I think if I did 26.2 you'd have to commit me at the end.

Running Is Hard

Today's run was supposed to be about distance.  And since it was a nice day out I decided to ditch the dreadmill and go outside.  In general, I like running outside much more than on a treadmill.  However, when you're trying to keep your speed down and add distance, outside makes it really, really difficult.  In my head, I said, "Don't go too fast" but my body didn't really get the message.  So I was out of breath & struggling for a lot of the run, and the sad part is that I didn't really even manage to shave much off my time from yesterday's run, averaging a pace of 10:45.  I also miscalculated my distance.  I looked at previous runs and I picked a course that was supposed to be about 2 miles.  However when I finished it today it was only 1.62 miles.  So I didn't add the distance I wanted to either.  Full run report here at MayMyRun. 

Overall a disappointing run but at least it's in the books.  I think from now on if I need to maintain a slower speed I'll stick to the treadmill and try to work on speed outside.

On a happy note - I got to try out my new birthday present from Wifey:  Dreaminex Bluetooth Headphones.  They were pretty cool!  Much more comfortable than regular earbuds.  And they are blue, which is my favorite color.  Also, I am finding that running is the easiest way for weight to drop off of me, so I'm back into some of my older running clothes, which also makes me happy :) 

Next Up:  A rest day and then hopefully I'll be able to add more runs in during the week.

Under 11 Minutes!!

Today's run my goal was just to run a whole mile faster.  So I started at a 5 instead of the 4 that I've been going with and worked my way up to a 6.2 at the very end.  It was tough.  I was winded, running harder than I have been so far.  I had been averaging just around 12 minutes per mile with minimal effort so I was hoping to make it around 11:30 or so, and I was pleasantly surprised when I came in just under 11 minutes, with a 10:56!!  Woo hoo!!  It hurt, but I did it. 

For my next run (whenever that will be) my goal will be to run 2 miles at a slower pace.  I need to add some distance to my workouts as well as speed, so I will try to vary my focus.  I don't have a lot of time before the race, so my expectations aren't too high, but we will see what I can do!

Two-In-One

I didn't get a chance to write about yesterday's run, so I'll do that with today's post.

Yesterday: (On MayMyRun)
Yet again, it's been about a week since I last ran.  Just did 1.5 miles in 18:01.  The first mile was 12:42, average pace of 12:30 since I sped up as I went along, so I'm still going slowly.  Nothing major to report.  I felt pretty good, it was an easy run.  My biggest discovery was while zoning out, staring at the window in front of the treadmill in my basement...I noticed the carcass of a bee. Disturbing since I'm allergic to bees & the basement is sealed so I have no idea how this sucker got in.  Glad it's dead already so I don't have to deal with it, but now I'm worried that there is a mega nest living in the walls of my house and the only solution is to burn down the entire house.  Perfectly rational train of thought.

Today:  (On MapMyRun)
I wanted to add in some speedwork, so I ran a full mile before I did anything.  Started at a 4 and slowly worked up to a 6 towards the very end of the mile.  First mile was done in 12:24, so I was faster than yesterday.  Then I alternated between walking anywhere between a 4 & a 5 and running at a 7+.  I did 0.75 miles over the course of 8:17.  Hopefully I will be able to add both speed and distance to my runs in the upcoming weeks...I only have 4 weeks left before the race!!