I have another blog. And its just too much work keeping up a separate running site, soooooo......
Please come on over here, where I'll continue to blog about training and running in general. Plus, you get to see pictures of my cute kid!
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
What I Learned From The East Coast Earthquake
I have been dreading running lately.
There. I said it. It seems like as soon as I signed up for the Half, I stopped enjoying what I was doing.
Then yesterday, I had a great run. I was doing hill repeats -- and I had a great time. I felt strong, I was able to push faster and harder than I thought I could, and at the end, I had this amazing cool-down run. I'd been doing the repeats up a hill, and walking on the way down. After my last interval, I started jogging on a flat level -- and it felt like I had discovered the "turbo boost!" button. My legs had gotten used to working at a certain level to propel me up the hill, and when I engaged them to push me forward on flat ground, my muscle memory kicked in without me knowing it, and I had this unexpected boost of speed and energy. It was crazy cool! I burned it off in a minute or two, and then I felt like normal, but man, that was SUCH a cool feeling. It made me realize I actually AM getting stronger, and all this training IS having an effect. I am SO looking forward to my next run now.
It also made me realize why I haven't been looking forward to running lately. Its getting really hard! I've been pushing and pushing myself, either through distance or heat or fatigue. It takes a lot to get through those runs, and then there's the recovery. The first workout after a hard run is generally not fun.
I was forced to take an extra day of rest this week because we had an earthquake. You might have heard about that. I was JUST about to go down to the treadmill at the gym when it hit, and we were all forced to evacuate the building. Which means I got stranded outside for 2 hours wearing heels. Ugh.
So it took an earthquake to teach me this little lesson (I might add, this is not a new lesson, but one that I seem to need to relearn over and over): rest is just as important as effort. Without the rest I need, I feel like crap, and that affects not just my physical performance, but how I feel about running and taking care of myself in general.
I also learned that hill repeats are awesome, and I HAVE to keep them in my normal training rotation. That turbo-boost feeling is AWESOME.
There. I said it. It seems like as soon as I signed up for the Half, I stopped enjoying what I was doing.
Then yesterday, I had a great run. I was doing hill repeats -- and I had a great time. I felt strong, I was able to push faster and harder than I thought I could, and at the end, I had this amazing cool-down run. I'd been doing the repeats up a hill, and walking on the way down. After my last interval, I started jogging on a flat level -- and it felt like I had discovered the "turbo boost!" button. My legs had gotten used to working at a certain level to propel me up the hill, and when I engaged them to push me forward on flat ground, my muscle memory kicked in without me knowing it, and I had this unexpected boost of speed and energy. It was crazy cool! I burned it off in a minute or two, and then I felt like normal, but man, that was SUCH a cool feeling. It made me realize I actually AM getting stronger, and all this training IS having an effect. I am SO looking forward to my next run now.
It also made me realize why I haven't been looking forward to running lately. Its getting really hard! I've been pushing and pushing myself, either through distance or heat or fatigue. It takes a lot to get through those runs, and then there's the recovery. The first workout after a hard run is generally not fun.
I was forced to take an extra day of rest this week because we had an earthquake. You might have heard about that. I was JUST about to go down to the treadmill at the gym when it hit, and we were all forced to evacuate the building. Which means I got stranded outside for 2 hours wearing heels. Ugh.
So it took an earthquake to teach me this little lesson (I might add, this is not a new lesson, but one that I seem to need to relearn over and over): rest is just as important as effort. Without the rest I need, I feel like crap, and that affects not just my physical performance, but how I feel about running and taking care of myself in general.
I also learned that hill repeats are awesome, and I HAVE to keep them in my normal training rotation. That turbo-boost feeling is AWESOME.
Monday, August 22, 2011
La Run De Crapola
Saturday night was the first date night that the Hubs and I had in months. It was awesome. We went to a little pizza place and had delicious red wine, a gorgeous arugula salad, and individual pizzas. Mine was a thin crust with hot Italian sausage. I ate ALL of it. Our next stop: a MOVIE!!!! We used to go to movies all the time, but again, we haven't been in months. We had an hour to kill between dinner and the movie, so we went to A BAR and had a BEER!!!!!!! You can see by my use of all-caps and exclamation points that we have not had much of a social life lately.
So Saturday night was great, but I paid dearly for it on Sunday morning. Luckily this week was a recovery week, so I only had 4 miles on the calendar (according to the Jeff Galloway plan). Of course, with the race only about a month away, I'm starting to get nervous and feel like I'm not working hard enough. So I decided to do an extra mile for a total of 5.
It was just one of those runs that was "off" from the start. I tried a new performance shake for breakfast and it tasted disgusting. So I forced a few gulps and had a few bites of banana. Then I decided to bring a handheld bottle of Nuun with me, even though I never run holding a bottle. I opened the door and was hit in the face with a wall of moist, hot air. It was disgusting already at 7 am. I hit the road and the bottle leaked sticky Nuun all over my hand. By the time I'd done a mile and a half, I had to pee like a racehorse, so I jogged back to the house, dropped off the leaky bottle and took a quick potty break.
The rest of the run followed course. Last night's dinner felt like a lead weight in my tummy and yet, I was hungry because I didn't eat the right breakfast. My feet were tired (probably from wearing heels the night before). I got passed by a dad pushing a stroller and a young, bouncy 20-something. By Mile 3, I felt like quitting. Mentally, I was making a list of all the reasons why this run sucked. Then I had my moment.
This was my opportunity to break out every mental training tool I had to make a sucky run as un-sucky as possible. I had 2 more miles left to make it work. So I straightened up my spine, concentrated on my form, repeated these "power words" - Calm and Strong (anyone else read this month's Runner magazine?), and visualized myself running with grace and energy.
It was a continuous struggle. I kept having to straighten up my posture, and tell myself to pick up my feet instead of doing the shuffle. I was pouring sweat and I felt like I was wearing concrete shoes. I didn't exactly glide to my finish.... I wouldn't say I even powered to my finish.....
But I finished. I felt like crap and faced crap conditions and I finished.
Now I just have to cross my fingers that the weather will be decent this weekend, because I'm slated to do 11 miles this weekend. Urgh! GUARANTEED there will be no wine or sausage pizza or beer the night before.
So Saturday night was great, but I paid dearly for it on Sunday morning. Luckily this week was a recovery week, so I only had 4 miles on the calendar (according to the Jeff Galloway plan). Of course, with the race only about a month away, I'm starting to get nervous and feel like I'm not working hard enough. So I decided to do an extra mile for a total of 5.
It was just one of those runs that was "off" from the start. I tried a new performance shake for breakfast and it tasted disgusting. So I forced a few gulps and had a few bites of banana. Then I decided to bring a handheld bottle of Nuun with me, even though I never run holding a bottle. I opened the door and was hit in the face with a wall of moist, hot air. It was disgusting already at 7 am. I hit the road and the bottle leaked sticky Nuun all over my hand. By the time I'd done a mile and a half, I had to pee like a racehorse, so I jogged back to the house, dropped off the leaky bottle and took a quick potty break.
The rest of the run followed course. Last night's dinner felt like a lead weight in my tummy and yet, I was hungry because I didn't eat the right breakfast. My feet were tired (probably from wearing heels the night before). I got passed by a dad pushing a stroller and a young, bouncy 20-something. By Mile 3, I felt like quitting. Mentally, I was making a list of all the reasons why this run sucked. Then I had my moment.
This was my opportunity to break out every mental training tool I had to make a sucky run as un-sucky as possible. I had 2 more miles left to make it work. So I straightened up my spine, concentrated on my form, repeated these "power words" - Calm and Strong (anyone else read this month's Runner magazine?), and visualized myself running with grace and energy.
It was a continuous struggle. I kept having to straighten up my posture, and tell myself to pick up my feet instead of doing the shuffle. I was pouring sweat and I felt like I was wearing concrete shoes. I didn't exactly glide to my finish.... I wouldn't say I even powered to my finish.....
But I finished. I felt like crap and faced crap conditions and I finished.
Now I just have to cross my fingers that the weather will be decent this weekend, because I'm slated to do 11 miles this weekend. Urgh! GUARANTEED there will be no wine or sausage pizza or beer the night before.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Hill Workout
I am DONE. Today I did my second workout of hill repeats on the treadmill. The idea behind the hill repeats is to increase speed and strength. Its definitely challenging, I can say that! I like that the workout involves short intervals -- 2 minutes of work and 2 minutes of recovery. I ran at about 75% - 80% of normal speed on the hills and walked the recovery flats. That 2 minutes of recovery feels like a long time, but holy moly, am I tired.
I was supposed to do yoga today, but my schedule is off this week due to Monday being a vacation day and my long run day. Traveling on Monday night and only getting 6 hours sleep after running my longest distance ever set me up for a pretty heinous Tuesday (hence, no workout) and a lazy Wednesday (also no workout). So today I decided to get back on the treadmill and attack those hills.
All in all it took about 45 minutes to complete 8 intervals, a 10-minute warmup and an 8-minute cooldown.
I'm tired (all over -- even my arms!) and hungry and it feels good. :)
I was supposed to do yoga today, but my schedule is off this week due to Monday being a vacation day and my long run day. Traveling on Monday night and only getting 6 hours sleep after running my longest distance ever set me up for a pretty heinous Tuesday (hence, no workout) and a lazy Wednesday (also no workout). So today I decided to get back on the treadmill and attack those hills.
All in all it took about 45 minutes to complete 8 intervals, a 10-minute warmup and an 8-minute cooldown.
I'm tired (all over -- even my arms!) and hungry and it feels good. :)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
9.75
I had planned to do my long run on Sunday this weekend, but we woke up to heavy rain that didn't let up once all day. Streets were flooding, train stations were closing -- it was not the kind of rain that you just buck up and run through.
So I waited until Monday. We were visiting my in-laws up north, so I asked my SIL, Annette, to map out a nice 9-miler for me, with an optional 1-mile loop at the end. (For those who don't know, Annette is training for her first marathon, so she's pretty much covered all the ground in a 20-mile radius around her house.) She came up with a great route the night before, and showed me the 18-miler she planned to run. I joked that we would finish at about the same time.
Monday morning was gray, but not raining. I ate half a peanut butter sandwich and had a half cup of coffee as soon as I woke up to give myself time to digest. I was still sort of hungry and thought about eating another half a sandwich, but decided to hold off. Instead I packed two energy gels and Nuun sports drink for the run. I figured it was better to run lighter than heavier.
Of course, by the time we got the kids started on breakfast, got into our gear, and loaded up our fuelt belts, it had started drizzling again. Annette headed out anyway, but within a minute, it was pouring. She came back, saying its one thing to get caught in a downpour, but its another to consciously start out an 18-mile run in that kind of weather. I had to agree.... I was planning half the distance and there was no way I was running in that rain.
Well, the rain let up again in a few minutes, and the sky looked pretty light, so we decided to go for it. I had written down the names of the streets I needed to follow on an index card and also put it in my iPhone. I had my gels, my Nuun, water, and Chapstick.
Man, it was soooooooooo nice to run in cool, wet weather. What a huge and wonderful contrast to the hot, humid weather we've been having all summer. Not only did it feel great in terms of not battling the temperature and struggling to breathe, but it was just pure fun! I think the last time I went out and did something as seemingly dumb as running in the rain was probably highschool... And that's exactly how I felt: like a kid again. I was hopping over puddles, running up onto people's lawns and driveways, and enjoying the feeling of the mist on my skin. I could feel cool little rivulets running through my hair down my scalp. It was just awesome. I'll try not to be too wordy with the rest of my recap:
Miles 1-3: I started with a 10-minute warm-up walk, which took me down a moderately busy street in a residential area. I was VERY happy I didn't have another half a sandwich, as peanut butter burps plagued me the entire way. I also regretted the coffee I drank, as I was dying to hit a bathroom before I even hit mile 2. Luckily when I got to Main Street, there was a Starbucks right there. Running-wise, I was still warming up, getting my breathing right. At one point I felt a twinge of pain go from the outer part of my knee down my shin to ankle, and thought I had injured myself. But it never came back - it must have just been the way I hit the ground on one stride or something. I stuck with my 5/1 run/walk, checking my iPhone for timing. Despite the peanut butter burps, I did feel hungry, and it had been about 2 hours since I ate, so I had my first gel. Lemon-lime Gu. Not too bad. Nice to be able to wash sticky fingers in the Starbucks sink.
Miles 4-7: It was raining pretty heavily when I got out of Starbucks, so I decided to tuck my iPhone into my running skirt pocket and "go rogue." I had the index card with directions, and I was confident that I could listen to my body and pace myself well for the long haul. Focusing on the 5/1 is for short training runs; its not as important for my long run.
I ran down Main Street past stores that weren't open yet and one friendly man walking a very unfriendly little dog. I made a right turn off Main Street for what I knew was going to be the longest unbroken stretch of the run -- about 3 miles down one road. There was a pretty wide shoulder to run on, lots of trees and bushes -- and lots of puddles. Long Islanders, God love them, are not known to be particularly patient or easy-going as a people, and that is certainly true of their driving. I erred on the side of caution, and anytime the shoulder got narrow at all, I jumped up on someone's lawn without thinking twice. There was also a sidewalk with trees and bushes jutting out into it, so between the puddles and hopping on to people's lawns and dodging tree branches, it was almost like trail-running and I was having a lot of fun.
The rain had not stopped, and my shoes were squishing water at this point, but I felt wonderful. My legs felt great, I was full of energy, and I was loving life. I was actually grinning and singing out loud with my iPhone as I ran. I am sure I looked insane. I wanted to stop doing intervals because it felt so good, but I knew I had to preserve my energy for the last part of the run. These four miles went by so pleasantly and quickly that I almost missed my turn to start the last third of my run!
Miles 7-9: Luckily Annette had told me there was a gas station at the 7-mile mark with a nice bathroom (which is the only reason I didn't run right past the road I was supposed to turn down!) I went in, took another potty break, then ate my second gel. I had been holding the index card with directions on it, but between the rain and my sweaty little paws, it was almost illegible. Luckily there were on a couple more roads before I got home, and I knew I would recognize them when I saw them.
I came out of the station and started jogging again. My hips were really tight and my quads felt tired. There had been some mild rolling hills along the way, and I felt it in my glutes, upper thighs, and calves. I stopped for a moment and stretched next to a big, mossy tree. That felt great, and I jogged up the next hill with muscles that felt tired but strong. At this point, it also felt easier to keep jogging than to stop and start, so I decided to let myself do away with the intervals and jog slowly for the last couple miles.
Soon, I felt like I was drowning in a sea of lactic acid. My legs were so tired. It almost felt like I was moving against resistance, like walking in a pool. I knew I was close to the end, though, and the excitement I felt about accomplishing my goal kept me going. As I made the last turn back toward Annette's neighborhood, I knew I could go farther than my original 9-mile plan, so I made a right turn and did a half-mile out and back before I continued home.
As I got closer to Annette's house, I dug in and picked up my pace a tiny bit. Even my feet were tired at this point. It felt so amazing to hit her driveway and realize I had just run almost 10 miles. I turned around and did a short cool-down walk up her street and back. Every single muscle in my body was tired, from the soles of my feet to the top of my neck. I raised my arms over my head to stretch and they felt like they weighed twice as much as normal.
But I felt great. I was victorious!!! At that point, I knew I could handle the Half Marathon. I'm not going to make any great times, but I'm going to finish it, and finish it strong. I have another month left to get stronger and do a couple more long runs and practice my hills.
Lessons Learned:
Question for all you experienced running peeps: Do your feet get tired when you run? And if so, what did you do to address that? I recently bought a pair of New Balance 880s, which I love. I have a pretty neutral gait, with a tiny bit of over pronation in the right foot. The NB 880s are pretty neutral on arch support and are a mid-cushion shoe, as opposed to a high-cushion. I love the way they feel, but I'm thinking maybe I need a shoe with more arch support and more cushion? Or maybe this is just part of training, and my feet and ankles will get stronger....
So I waited until Monday. We were visiting my in-laws up north, so I asked my SIL, Annette, to map out a nice 9-miler for me, with an optional 1-mile loop at the end. (For those who don't know, Annette is training for her first marathon, so she's pretty much covered all the ground in a 20-mile radius around her house.) She came up with a great route the night before, and showed me the 18-miler she planned to run. I joked that we would finish at about the same time.
Monday morning was gray, but not raining. I ate half a peanut butter sandwich and had a half cup of coffee as soon as I woke up to give myself time to digest. I was still sort of hungry and thought about eating another half a sandwich, but decided to hold off. Instead I packed two energy gels and Nuun sports drink for the run. I figured it was better to run lighter than heavier.
Of course, by the time we got the kids started on breakfast, got into our gear, and loaded up our fuelt belts, it had started drizzling again. Annette headed out anyway, but within a minute, it was pouring. She came back, saying its one thing to get caught in a downpour, but its another to consciously start out an 18-mile run in that kind of weather. I had to agree.... I was planning half the distance and there was no way I was running in that rain.
Well, the rain let up again in a few minutes, and the sky looked pretty light, so we decided to go for it. I had written down the names of the streets I needed to follow on an index card and also put it in my iPhone. I had my gels, my Nuun, water, and Chapstick.
Man, it was soooooooooo nice to run in cool, wet weather. What a huge and wonderful contrast to the hot, humid weather we've been having all summer. Not only did it feel great in terms of not battling the temperature and struggling to breathe, but it was just pure fun! I think the last time I went out and did something as seemingly dumb as running in the rain was probably highschool... And that's exactly how I felt: like a kid again. I was hopping over puddles, running up onto people's lawns and driveways, and enjoying the feeling of the mist on my skin. I could feel cool little rivulets running through my hair down my scalp. It was just awesome. I'll try not to be too wordy with the rest of my recap:
Miles 1-3: I started with a 10-minute warm-up walk, which took me down a moderately busy street in a residential area. I was VERY happy I didn't have another half a sandwich, as peanut butter burps plagued me the entire way. I also regretted the coffee I drank, as I was dying to hit a bathroom before I even hit mile 2. Luckily when I got to Main Street, there was a Starbucks right there. Running-wise, I was still warming up, getting my breathing right. At one point I felt a twinge of pain go from the outer part of my knee down my shin to ankle, and thought I had injured myself. But it never came back - it must have just been the way I hit the ground on one stride or something. I stuck with my 5/1 run/walk, checking my iPhone for timing. Despite the peanut butter burps, I did feel hungry, and it had been about 2 hours since I ate, so I had my first gel. Lemon-lime Gu. Not too bad. Nice to be able to wash sticky fingers in the Starbucks sink.
Miles 4-7: It was raining pretty heavily when I got out of Starbucks, so I decided to tuck my iPhone into my running skirt pocket and "go rogue." I had the index card with directions, and I was confident that I could listen to my body and pace myself well for the long haul. Focusing on the 5/1 is for short training runs; its not as important for my long run.
I ran down Main Street past stores that weren't open yet and one friendly man walking a very unfriendly little dog. I made a right turn off Main Street for what I knew was going to be the longest unbroken stretch of the run -- about 3 miles down one road. There was a pretty wide shoulder to run on, lots of trees and bushes -- and lots of puddles. Long Islanders, God love them, are not known to be particularly patient or easy-going as a people, and that is certainly true of their driving. I erred on the side of caution, and anytime the shoulder got narrow at all, I jumped up on someone's lawn without thinking twice. There was also a sidewalk with trees and bushes jutting out into it, so between the puddles and hopping on to people's lawns and dodging tree branches, it was almost like trail-running and I was having a lot of fun.
The rain had not stopped, and my shoes were squishing water at this point, but I felt wonderful. My legs felt great, I was full of energy, and I was loving life. I was actually grinning and singing out loud with my iPhone as I ran. I am sure I looked insane. I wanted to stop doing intervals because it felt so good, but I knew I had to preserve my energy for the last part of the run. These four miles went by so pleasantly and quickly that I almost missed my turn to start the last third of my run!
Miles 7-9: Luckily Annette had told me there was a gas station at the 7-mile mark with a nice bathroom (which is the only reason I didn't run right past the road I was supposed to turn down!) I went in, took another potty break, then ate my second gel. I had been holding the index card with directions on it, but between the rain and my sweaty little paws, it was almost illegible. Luckily there were on a couple more roads before I got home, and I knew I would recognize them when I saw them.
I came out of the station and started jogging again. My hips were really tight and my quads felt tired. There had been some mild rolling hills along the way, and I felt it in my glutes, upper thighs, and calves. I stopped for a moment and stretched next to a big, mossy tree. That felt great, and I jogged up the next hill with muscles that felt tired but strong. At this point, it also felt easier to keep jogging than to stop and start, so I decided to let myself do away with the intervals and jog slowly for the last couple miles.
Soon, I felt like I was drowning in a sea of lactic acid. My legs were so tired. It almost felt like I was moving against resistance, like walking in a pool. I knew I was close to the end, though, and the excitement I felt about accomplishing my goal kept me going. As I made the last turn back toward Annette's neighborhood, I knew I could go farther than my original 9-mile plan, so I made a right turn and did a half-mile out and back before I continued home.
As I got closer to Annette's house, I dug in and picked up my pace a tiny bit. Even my feet were tired at this point. It felt so amazing to hit her driveway and realize I had just run almost 10 miles. I turned around and did a short cool-down walk up her street and back. Every single muscle in my body was tired, from the soles of my feet to the top of my neck. I raised my arms over my head to stretch and they felt like they weighed twice as much as normal.
But I felt great. I was victorious!!! At that point, I knew I could handle the Half Marathon. I'm not going to make any great times, but I'm going to finish it, and finish it strong. I have another month left to get stronger and do a couple more long runs and practice my hills.
Lessons Learned:
- I can't drink coffee before a run because of the diuretic effect. I had to pee sooooo bad! However, I also don't want to go through caffeine withdrawals in the middle of a long run. One cup of plain green tea in the morning is the plan from here on out.
- More Gu. I was really hungry by the end of this run. I'll pack 1 or 2 more Gu's for my next one.
- Need a new breakfast food. Going to try the Vega Performance shake that Annette had.
- Stick with intervals. I think the reason I felt so tired at the end is because I didn't stop for walk breaks. For the Half, I need to keep doing my intervals until I'm ready to make the last push to the finish line. I want to finish strong!!!
- Recovery - I took everyone's advice and had more carbs during the day, and it helped immensely. I also drank a Hammer Recoverite shake right after the run (added a banana, almond milk and some Greek yogurt). It was easy to digest and filled me up.
Question for all you experienced running peeps: Do your feet get tired when you run? And if so, what did you do to address that? I recently bought a pair of New Balance 880s, which I love. I have a pretty neutral gait, with a tiny bit of over pronation in the right foot. The NB 880s are pretty neutral on arch support and are a mid-cushion shoe, as opposed to a high-cushion. I love the way they feel, but I'm thinking maybe I need a shoe with more arch support and more cushion? Or maybe this is just part of training, and my feet and ankles will get stronger....
Friday, August 12, 2011
Scaredy Cat
I've been feeling really stressed all week. I've been busy at work, have upcoming business and personal travel, and my closest friend is moving out of town to another country. Yesterday we said goodbye, and there were tears.
And, believe it or not, I think I'm stressed about my long run this weekend! I had planned to do a 10-mile run this weekend, which is more than my training plan requires. Now I think I'm definitely going to dial it back to 9 miles. I'll see how I feel and then decide whether to add any distance.
I'm suddenly really nervous about the Half, in a doubting myself sort of way, not a fun scared kind of way. Can I really do this? How awful is it going to be? Am I going to embarass myself?
Part of it is that I'm coming to terms with how slow I am and how slowly I'm going to have to treat this race. That's where the embarassment factor is coming from. But I need to let go of the idea of improving my speed for this race. I can think about improving my speed for my next 5K. For a never-attempted before distance of 13 miles, I just need to think about maintaining good form, keeping up my 5/1 run/walk strategy, and hydrating and fueling. That's it. One foot in front of the other, head up, shoulders back, feet light, sips on the water bottle every half an hour.
Gah. But the negative thoughts keep coming back.
I am dreading my 9-miler this weekend. I'm afraid I'm going to hit a wall or not be able to do it. Afraid I'll have to walk the last 2 miles.
I just have to keep at it. I know I'll feel amazing when its all done.
How do you all battle the fear and negative thoughts?
And, believe it or not, I think I'm stressed about my long run this weekend! I had planned to do a 10-mile run this weekend, which is more than my training plan requires. Now I think I'm definitely going to dial it back to 9 miles. I'll see how I feel and then decide whether to add any distance.
I'm suddenly really nervous about the Half, in a doubting myself sort of way, not a fun scared kind of way. Can I really do this? How awful is it going to be? Am I going to embarass myself?
Part of it is that I'm coming to terms with how slow I am and how slowly I'm going to have to treat this race. That's where the embarassment factor is coming from. But I need to let go of the idea of improving my speed for this race. I can think about improving my speed for my next 5K. For a never-attempted before distance of 13 miles, I just need to think about maintaining good form, keeping up my 5/1 run/walk strategy, and hydrating and fueling. That's it. One foot in front of the other, head up, shoulders back, feet light, sips on the water bottle every half an hour.
Gah. But the negative thoughts keep coming back.
I am dreading my 9-miler this weekend. I'm afraid I'm going to hit a wall or not be able to do it. Afraid I'll have to walk the last 2 miles.
I just have to keep at it. I know I'll feel amazing when its all done.
How do you all battle the fear and negative thoughts?
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